Today women and men are practically equal in rights, responsibilities and opportunities. This also applies to sports. However, if a female comment on soccer matches, it is perceived as something strange, while in tennis, handball, skiing, track and field, volleyball and other sports, the voice of women behind the scenes has become common. Some believe that girls do not understand soccer, but we will tell you about five female commentators who know the sport better than several men pundits.
Veronica Gibadieva
It was not until 2007 that female co-hosts began to appear on Russian TV together with male experts in soccer talk shows. Veronica Gibadieva, a journalist, blogger, and author of PROsport magazine became the first woman commentator on men’s soccer in Russia.
Her debut was very successful: she worked with a popular commentator Vladimir Stognienko on the Dutch Championship match SC Cambuur vs Ajax. Gibadieva told interesting stories about Eredivisie, Dutch cities and coaches. Today she continues to work as a reporter, but rarely commentates on matches.
Jacqui Oatley
On April 21, 2007, Jacqui caused a sensation in the UK: she was the first woman to commentate on soccer for the first time in the history of the country. It was the Fulham VS Blackburn game on the BBC.
Oatley was a fan of Wolverhampton from childhood and began to play soccer herself growing up. She started in the university team and then in the amateur team Chiswick. However, a serious knee injury forced her to forget about her soccer career and train as a sports journalist.
Before commentating on men’s soccer on TV, Jacqui worked on radio, was a reporter for the Women’s World Cup, the Olympics and made her debut on the “Match of the Day” show with Gary Lineker.
Now Jacqui continues to commentate on matches from time to time and is the host of podcasts and radio shows.
Yulia Dorofeeva
Another Russian woman, who commentates on soccer on TV. She works on the Eurosport channel. On the radio, Yulia often comments on Spartak FC games. In addition, she managed to get into the finals of the prestigious contest “You are a commentator”, which was held by the TV channel “Russia”.
Yulia has a beautiful voice, she is able to find a common language even with celebrities and appears quite often on the air with reports about the matches of the Women’s Champions League (you can bet on this tournament at gambling operators from Meta.reviews rating).
Alicia Ferguson
In the past, Ferguson played soccer at the professional level and played for the Australian national team. After finishing her career, Alicia became a sports journalist and columnist for ABC channel. She could be seen in the programs about men’s soccer, in addition, the girl was a regular commentator of the Australian Women’s Championship and the matches of the women’s national team.
In 2011, Alicia first commented on the Women’s World Cup on ESPN. Surprisingly, then it was a sensation because even still most of the female soccer games are often commented on by men. Ferguson proved that women can do just as well as males in expert positions.
Viviana Vila
This woman is the only female soccer commentator in Latin America. The journalist gained access to the commentary positions of Radio Continental after meeting the famous sports columnist Victor Hugo Morales.
Viviana also made her debut on television in 2012, commentating on a match in the program Fútbol Para Todos (Football for All). Now Vila is recognized as one of the best sports journalists in Argentina. She commentates not only on soccer but also on tennis, volleyball and handball. In addition, Viviana teaches reporting at the University of Journalism.