Doumouh Al Bakkar

Doumouh Ibrahim Al Bakkar (Arabic: دموع ابراهيم البقار‎; born 7 April 1990) is a Lebanese football referee who officiates primarily in the Lebanese Women's Football League.

Doumouh Al Bakkar

Al Bakkar in 2018
Full name	Doumouh Ibrahim Al Bakkar[1]
Born	(1990-04-07) 7 April 1990 Tripoli, Lebanon
Other occupation	Human Resources Manager
Domestic
Years	League	Role
2014–	Lebanese Women's Football League	Referee
2017–	Lebanese Fourth Division	Referee
2017–	Lebanese Third Division	Referee
2017–	Lebanese Second Division	Referee
International
Years	League	Role
2016–	FIFA listed	Referee
2018–	AFC Elite	Referee

Starting out as a player and as a coach, Al Bakkar became a referee in 2014. In addition to women's matches, she has also officiated men's matches domestically, at both senior and youth level. Al Bakkar has also refereed in various international competitions, such as the AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, WAFF Women's Championship, and 2017 Summer Universiade. She was the latter competition's referee in the final.

Refereeing career

Born in Tripoli, Lebanon,[2] Al Bakkar started out as a player aged 16,[3] playing for eight years before becoming a coach.[4] She got interested in refereeing the same year, in 2014, when she attended a "Referees of Tomorrow" training course, organized by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA) in cooperation with lecturers from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).[3][4] She stated that there were eight women participating in the session, with her being the only one to pass the fitness test.[3]

She began by officiating women's matches domestically in 2014, both in the youth league and the Lebanese Women's Football League.[3][4] In 2016 Al Bakkar received the FIFA badge.[2] She took part in the 2017 Summer Universiade in Chinese Taipei,[2] officiating matches such as the quarter-final match between Canada and Brazil, as well as the final between Japan and Brazil.[4] The same year, Al Bakkar began officiating men's youth matches domestically, in addition to senior matches in the Second Division, Third Division, and Fourth Division.[3][4]

In 2017 Al Bakkar also officiated a men's friendly game between Lebanese Premier League sides Safa and Tadamon Sour, in the Safa Stadium in Beirut.[2] Regarding her experience refereeing a match between two top-tier men's clubs, Al Bakkar stated that "some players were surprised at the idea of a woman officiating the game, others laughed. But of course, on the other hand, others were cooperative and offered me words of encouragement".[3]

At the international level, she was the referee in multiple matches in the 2019 AFC U-16 and U-19 Women's Championships, and in the 2020 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.[4] Al Bakkar also officiated in the 2019 WAFF Women's Championship, as well as several other local and international competitions in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and Jordan.[4] Al Bakkar was one of two Lebanese referees to officiate the inaugural edition of the WAFF Women's Clubs Championship in 2019.[5]

Personal life

Al Bakkar has a master's degree in political and administrative sciences at the Lebanese University, and works as a Human Resources Manager in her hometown Tripoli.[2]

References

1. عساف, فراس ابو. "حكام كرة النسائية". الاتحاد اللبناني لكرة القدم (in Arabic). Retrieved 22 July 2020.
2. "الحكم الدولي دموع البقار.. تجربة أنثوية مميّزة في عالم الكرة!". Lebanon24 (in Arabic). Retrieved 22 July 2020.
3. "DOUMOUH AL BAKKAR". www.abdogedeon.com. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
4. "Al Bakkar writes new history in Lebanon". FIFA.com. 22 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
5. Lebanon, Football. "إختيار دموع البقار وجنى حيدر لتحكيم بطولة غرب آسيا الأولى لأندية السيدات". football-lebanon.com. Retrieved 22 July 2020.