Referee Stephanie Frappart escorted from Greek Cup Final after protests from players and club president

Respected referee Stephanie Frappart had to be rushed off the pitch during the Greek Cup final over the weekend. The female referee made history when she was contracted to referee the male cup final despite usually refereeing in France.

Frappart was brought in from abroad due to concerns of fan violence due to potential referee bias - or at least claims of it. But any hopes she had of a quiet final between Panathinaikos and Aris were quickly erased. The referee gave out 12 bookings in a physical final and sent off three players, including two Aris stars.

Temperatures reached boiling point when Panathinaikos scored a 97th-minute winner, leaving Aris fans and players enraged. At full-time, players and coaching staff surrounded Frappart, leading to security officials getting involved and escorting her from the playing surface to ensure no violence could ensue. Aris club president Theodoros Karypidis even got involved, storming on to the pitch to join the protests.

Perhaps fortunately for the referee, the game was played behind closed doors due to concerns over fan violence. But even with fans barred from attending the final, the Greek football association will still have controversy aplenty to deal with over the coming days, and they will surely be embarrassed to have flown in a referee from France only for her to receive such appalling abuse for doing her job.

As for Frappart, she is used to making headlines, albeit usually for the right reasons. She became the first female referee to referee a Greek Cup final over the weekend, and she was also the first female referee to oversee both a French Ligue 1 match, back in 2019, and also a men’s European fixture, taking charge of a Champions League game in 2020.

She also became the first female referee to oversee a men’s World Cup fixture at Qatar 2022, and was part of an all-women’s official line-up. She is now a regular referee in the Champions League and has an excellent reputation in the game.