Kari Seitz

Kari Seitz before a NWSL game (2013)

Kari Seitz (born November 2, 1970 in the USA ) is a former American football referee and has been the only official (men and women) to lead games at four World Cups . She is currently “Senior Manager in the FIFA Refereeing Department”.

Career

league

Seitz was a referee in the first professional US women's league, the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA, 2001-2003), as well as in the successor league Women's Professional Soccer (WPS, 2009-2011), in which she was already considered the most experienced referee. In 2002 she was named WUSA Referee of the Year. In the last year of her career, Seitz once again led professional women 's soccer games in the newly founded National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and, among other things, whistled the championship final Western New York Flash against Portland Thorns FC on August 31, 2013 . In addition, she was temporarily active in the highest US men's football league Major League Soccer (MLS).

International

Seitz worked internationally as a FIFA referee from 1999 until her resignation in 2013. She headed her first World Cup game at the 1999 Women's World Cup when she played Australia against Ghana. In 2003 she took part as a referee at the first U-19 World Cup for women in Canada and at the 2003 World Cup she directed four group matches and the quarter-finals between China and Canada . She was used twice at the 2007 Women's World Cup , each in the group stage. Seitz also led games at the 2011 World Cup , including the game for third place, making her the only referee to take part in four World Cups.

Kari Seitz also led performances at the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2008 and the 2010 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup . She also led a group game at the 2005 European Women's Football Championship and the semi-final between Norway and Sweden . At the 2012 Olympics , she directed the first game between Great Britain and New Zealand . Along with Jenny Palmqvist ( Sweden ), she is the only referee who has been used in three Olympic football tournaments.

Seitz 'last game as FIFA referee was the friendly game between the USA and Australia (4-0) on October 20, 2013 in San Antonio . On October 27, 2013, she was used again as the fourth official at the game USA against New Zealand .

Like the two Germans Christine Frai and Elke Fielenbach , Seitz led eight games of the German women's national soccer team and was only surpassed by the Canadian Carol Chenard , who led ten games for the German team.

Web links

Commons : Kari Seitz  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Kari Seitz in the database of weltfussball.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ fifa.com: "Seitz:" We're looking for top athletes ""
2. ↑ Bridget Wentworth: Sky Blue FC captures Women's Professional Soccer crown with 1-0 victory over Los Angeles Sol. New Jersey Sports, August 22, 2009; accessed June 28, 2011 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Kari Seitz on the FIFA Under-19 Women's World Championship. (No longer available online.) US Soccer, October 3, 2002, archived from the original on April 25, 2012 ; accessed on June 28, 2011 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ ^{a b} Longtime US Soccer Referee Kari Seitz to Retire. United States Soccer Federation, October 8, 2013, accessed October 21, 2013 . 
5. ^ Match report Australia - Ghana
6. ↑ Heads the game for third place: Kari Seitz . focus.de on July 15, 2011
7. ↑ FIFA.com: Statistics of the day
8. ↑ fifa.com: "Women in Focus: October 2013"
9. ↑ ussoccer.com: "US WNT Defeats New Zealand 4-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco" ( Memento of the original from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.