Ghada Mehat
Ghada Mehat is an Algerian football referee. She has been on the FIFA International Referees List since 2022.
Career
Born in Sétif, Mehat developed a passion for football from an early age, often playing in the streets of her hometown. She spent a brief period as a player with before becoming interested in the role of a referee. In 2015, at the age of 20, she decided to pursue refereeing and enrolled in a two-month training course organized by the Constantine Regional Football League. She was the only female participant to complete the course and was subsequently certified as a referee. Her officiating career began with youth tournaments and gradually advanced to the national level, eventually leading to her recognition as an international referee in 2022. On 22 September 2023, she officiated her first international match in the 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualification, overseeing the fixture between [Ivory Coast women's national Association football|football team|Ivory Coast] and Tanzania.On 14 April 2024, She became the first woman to referee a men's professional match in the Algerian Cup, officiating a quarter-final match during the 2023–24 Algerian Cup. The match was marked by a heated altercation between then-MC Alger playmaker Youcef Belaïli and Mehat, which drew widespread attention and fueled debate over the presence of female referees in men's football.
In August 2024, Mehat was appointed to officiate in the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in the Dominican Republic.