MEXICO CITY — When FIFA published its list of 52 center-pitch referees for the 2026 World Cup, the name of Katia Itzel García made history. She will be the first Mexican woman to referee in a men’s senior FIFA World Cup — the fourth woman in history to do so, following Stéphanie Frappart of France, Salima Mukansanga of Rwanda, and Yoshimi Yamashita of Japan, all of whom officiated at Qatar 2022.
In Mexico’s fútbol media, the reaction was not celebration. It was a debate.
Former referee Francisco Chacón stated his objection in precise terms:
“This is simply a matter of ability. This is the first time in history that a referee is going to a World Cup with fewer than 40 matches in a first division league — in any league you choose, from any country. On top of that, she is among the worst-rated referees in the Liga MX. If she were a man, with her level of ability, she would not have the remotest possibility of being a FIFA referee, much less going to a World Cup.”
Others questioned whether her selection reflected a gender equity quota rather than merit, noting that another Mexican referee — Marco Antonio “Gato” Ortiz — was passed over in her favor despite a longer first division record.
Sports journalist David Faitelson responded publicly and sharply to the criticism: “Where are the misogynistic detractors of referee Katia Itzel García now? In Mexico, according to them, she is not good at what she does. For FIFA, she is a referee of World Cup caliber. Would any of them dare say she is going to the World Cup for inclusion rather than quality?” Marc Crosas backed him, pointing out that FIFA ranks García sixth among referees in a recent international performance ranking.
Marco Cansino, occupying a middle ground, said, “I love inclusion, and I am not a misogynist. But I do believe that right now in Mexico, if we are talking about quality and ability, Katia Itzel falls short.”
The argument has consumed Mexican fútbol commentary for days. It has also, not for the first time in García’s career, obscured something important about who she actually is and what it has cost her to get here.
Who is Katia Itzel García?
Katia Itzel García Mendoza, 33, was born in Mexico City and holds a degree in Political Science and Public Administration from UNAM. She began her professional refereeing career in 2016 and has held the FIFA badge since 2019.
García debuted in the Liga MX men’s league on March 9, 2024 — the first woman to referee a men’s first division match in Mexico in twenty years, since Virginia Tovar in 2004. She was the first woman to referee a men’s Gold Cup match. She officiated at the Paris 2024 Olympics. She was recognized as the best referee in CONCACAF, and she received Mexico’s National Sports Prize in 2024, awarded by President Claudia Sheinbaum.
García and American referee Tori Penso are the only two women designated as central referees among the 52 officials chosen for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
García has been direct about what she is carrying.
“They say aim for the moon, and what greater tests than those we have had internationally — the Olympics, the first time FIFA opened doors to referee men’s matches, France the host, with a full stadium. Those were tests of fire, complicated ones.”
Past Death Threats
The hostility García faces in the debate over her World Cup appointment is not new. It has a documented history, and it escalated well past opinion.
On July 31, 2025, García refereed the Leagues Cup match between Rayados de Monterrey and FC Cincinnati. The American side won 3-2. Some Monterrey supporters blamed García for a VAR-validated goal they considered offside. What began as sporting frustration crossed rapidly into digital violence.
A user sent García a direct message loaded with misogynistic insults and explicit threats to her and her entire family: “There’s no date that doesn’t come due, no word that doesn’t come to pass.”
García made the threats public from her own Instagram account, sharing screenshots of the messages and tagging UN Women. Other screenshots posted by García reveal darker and more threatening messages from fans and social media users, specifically calling for the death of Katia Itzel García.
A statement made publicly by the referee alluded to the rates of femicide and violence against women in Mexican society, attributing the incident to a broader national context: “In Mexico, a country where 10 women are murdered every day.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino responded: “I am dismayed and saddened by the threats against referee Katia Itzel following her performance in the Leagues Cup. Without referees, there is no football, so we must protect them and respect their role in our sport. In football and in society, there is no place for abuse, discrimination, or violence of any kind.”
The FMF condemned the threats and announced it would support García in filing a formal complaint with authorities. Monterrey FC issued a statement calling the attacks inadmissible.
The threats did not stop. When Liga MX announced in November 2025 that García would become the first woman to referee a men’s playoff match — assigned to the Toluca vs. Juárez fixture — she published another post on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, revealing a new series of threatening messages she had received.
Eight months after those threats, FIFA named her to the World Cup.
Merits or Gender Quotas?
The debate over García’s selection presents a genuine tension that does not resolve cleanly. The question of whether a referee has sufficient first division experience for a World Cup is a legitimate sporting question — it is asked of male referees as well. Former referees raising experience concerns about a specific appointment is normal professional discourse.
What is not normal is what García has experienced alongside that discourse: death threats, sustained harassment, misogynistic attacks, and a pattern of abuse that has required the intervention of FIFA’s president, a national football federation, a club, and the United Nations simply to address.
Gender and sport specialist Claudia Pedraza put the distinction plainly: “The sporting critiques are part of the game — that happens with referee performance. But they have placed her in a position of vulnerability through misogynistic messages. This goes beyond football passion. While we boast of investment and spectacle ahead of the World Cup, the question is how willing our football and our federation actually are to take this issue of violence seriously.”
FIFA’s answer, for its part, is in the appointment itself. The organization that condemned the death threats and promised accountability is the same one that subsequently evaluated García's international record — Paris 2024, the Gold Cup, the Women’s World Cup, CONCACAF’s best referee designation — and placed her name on the list of 52 referees who will officiate the largest World Cup in the tournament’s history.
Whether Mexico’s fútbol world accepts that judgment is a separate question entirely. The debate will continue, and the whistle blows in 62 days.
