Bibiana Steinhaus-Webb strolls around the training pitch next to the Estadio Félix Sánchez in Santo Domingo, carrying a folder in one hand and displaying a huge smile on her face. She is clearly enjoying everything that the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Dominican Republic 2024™, her first official tournament as head of Women’s Refereeing at FIFA, has to offer.

“First of all, I’m super excited to join FIFA. It’s such an amazing time, with the growth of the women’s game going from strength to strength. And with that, the expectations placed on the match officials are increasing with every tournament and every game,” said the German, who was appointed on 7 October.

“Being part of this journey is just fantastic, and thanks to my predecessors, I have seen some amazing, talented match officials at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Dominican Republic 2024. I think it’s absolutely unbelievable,” added the 45-year-old former international referee.

Steinhaus-Webb has had a long and distinguished career as a referee. She has achieved a number of milestones in her career, which spanned 26 years, and which she retired from in 2020. For instance, she is the only female referee to have taken charge at both a FIFA Women’s World Cup™ (2011) and Olympic Games (2012) Final.

As a result, she is very clear about the responsibilities of her new role. “We’re building a team to support the match officials in the best way possible,” she says.

“With all the knowledge that is coming in from the technical instructors from all the different member associations, there’s a really diverse team supporting the match officials be the best versions of themselves,” adds Steinhaus-Webb, who was a FIFA international referee from 2005 until she hung her boots up.

“The idea is to aid their preparation not only from a refereeing point of view, but also from a fitness, mental strength and medical perspective. Nowadays, we look at female referees from a very holistic point of view.”

Steinhaus-Webb has also officiated at two other FIFA Women's World Cups (2015 and 2019), four FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups™ and became the first VAR referee at a men’s competition, the FIFA U-17 Men’s World Cup Brazil 2019™.

With this in mind, she stresses the importance of youth tournaments in the development of young referees. “It’s incredibly exciting to see the next generation of female referees breaking through and finding their own style at U-17 and U-20 level and also at international level.”

For the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Dominican Republic 2024, where the video review system will continue to be tested, 38 female match officials (12 referees, 24 assistants and two support referees) have been appointed. They are training and working hard every day during the tournament, always under the watchful eye of Steinhaus-Webb.

“To accompany them in this process, to see them grow both as referees and as people over the course of a few weeks, to support them through the rollercoaster of emotions they experience as athletes, is truly incredible. And I’m so grateful to be able to share that with all the refereeing back room staff.”

In her new role, Steinhaus-Webb is also looking beyond the current refereeing ecosystem and has her eye on the future. “We want more girls and women to be part of the refereeing family. Being a referee is one of the most incredible journeys you can embark on in football, because it not only brings you on as a referee but also as a person.”