Shona Shukrula


Shona Shukrula is a Dutch football referee, the first female referee in Dutch professional football.

Career

Shukrula played football until the age of 17 in the Alkmaar club AFC '34, where she also volunteered. She also became a club referee there. In the 2009/2010 season, she began officiating matches for the KNVB. In 2010, she was included in the KNVB Talent Development Program for Amateur Football.
On 13 May 2017, she debuted in the 2016–17 season of the Derde Divisie, the fourth tier of football in the Netherlands, as the referee of the Rijnsburgse Boys – VV Capelle match. On 2 June 2017, she led the KNVB Women's Cup final between Ajax and PSV.
In 2017, Shukrula became a listed referee for FIFA. Since then, she has received international assignments for Women's Champions League, Women's Championship, Women's World Cup, and also Women's Under-17 and Women's Under-19 Championship qualifiers. She made her international debut on 13 March 2017, at the 2017 Women's Under-17 Championship qualification match between Republic of Ireland and Serbia. She also led the match between Serbia and Scotland on March 18, 2017, during the qualifications.
In 2019, she was promoted to category 2 on the FIFA list. In December 2020, UEFA announced that Shukrula had been promoted again, this time to category 1.
On December 14, 2019, Shukrula became the first woman in the Netherlands to officiate a match at the highest amateur level of men's football. This took place during the match between Jong Sparta and ASWH in the Tweede Divisie.
On September 5, 2020, Shukrula made her debut as the first female fourth official in the Netherlands in the Eerste Divisie. This occurred during the FC Eindhoven – SC Telstar match at Jan Louwers Stadion.
In May 2024, the KNVB promoted her to the position of the first female referee in professional men's football in the Netherlands. On October 4, 2024, Shukrula made her debut as a referee in men's professional football during the match TOP Oss – ADO Den Haag in the Eerste Divisie.
On 29 October 2024, Shukrula officiated the match between Portugal and Azerbaijan at the Women's Euro 2025 qualifying play-offs.

Personal life

Together with her Surinamese father, Dutch mother, and three brothers, Shukrula grew up in Alkmaar. She studied law at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and works as a public prosecutor for the Public Prosecution Service in North Holland.
In 2021, she started dating professional footballer Jeff Hardeveld. They married in June 2023.