Riiohlang appointed Asst. Referee for 8th FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup

The world football governing body FIFA has selected Meghalay’s Riiohlang Dhar as an assistant referee for the eighth U-17 Women’s World Cup to be held in the Dominican Republic. 

The eight FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup will be held in the Dominican Republic from 16 October to 3 November 2024.

India hosted the seventh FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2022, and Spain emerged as the champion team, beating Colombia in the final. 

2nd Indian women's assistant referee for FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup

The 34-year-old Riiohlang Dhar is the second Indian, after Uvena Fernandes, to be an assistant referee in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

Uvena Fernandes was an assistant referee at the 5th FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2016, which was held in Jordan.

Riiohlang Dhar is one of the 38 match officials selected by FIFA for the 8th U-17 Women’s World Cup.

Riiohlang Dhar, who works with the Meghalaya police, played football before retiring in 2009. She then took up a career in refereeing. Recently, she was in action in the 2024 AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup in Indonesia. She officiated in a semifinal and also in the match to decide the third-place play-off. 

Eight FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup

The Dominican Republic will host the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup for the first time. The 8th FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup has 16 teams divided into four groups. 

Group A:  Ecuador, New Zealand, Dominican Republic, Nigeria

Group B: Spain, USA, South Korea, Colombia

Group C: England, North Korea, Mexico, Kenya, 

Group D: Japan, Poland, Brazil, Zambia

The final will be played on 3rd November 2024.

FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup

The first FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup was organised by FIFA for girls under 17 years of age in 2008 in New Zealand. The inaugural edition was won by North Korea, which defeated the USA in the final.

The FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup was held every two years, and the 2020 edition was postponed due to Covid-19.

FIFA has announced that from 2025 to 2029, the World Cup will be held annually in Morocco.

North Korea and Spain have won the trophy twice, while South Korea, France and Japan have won it once.

Winners of the Previous edition of the U-17 Women's World Cup 

FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association)

FIFA is the world governing body of men’s and women’s football.

Headquarters of FIFA: Zurich, Switzerland.

President: Gianni Infantino .