January 15, 2021 (Halifax, NS) – Thirty-eight-year-old Marie-Soleil Beaudoin has been named as a candidate to officiate at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia / New Zealand.

Marie-Soleil Beaudoin is the only Nova Scotia woman authorized by FIFA to referee that level of soccer, and one of four Canadian women identified for 2023. This will be her second FIFA Women’s World Cup after being appointed to referee the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, where her performance earned her the semi-final between the Netherlands and Sweden in Lyon. 

“She is the best choice in the country,” says Carman King, Referee Development Officer at Soccer Nova Scotia and one of two national instructors in the province. “We’re incredibly proud of Marie-Soleil’s achievements and it’s been nothing short of an honour to support her development.”

Beaudoin also made history when she became the first female referee to work a Canadian Premier League game, in charge of the HFX Wanderers home opener in 2019. “This was a defining moment, not just for officials but for women and girls in general,” says Lindsay MacAskill, Program Director with Soccer Nova Scotia. “It’s well known we need more female role models in sport, and here she is taking charge in a game with 22 strong competitive men. She sets a terrific example on and off the field.”

The mother of one is also a professor of physiology and biophysics at Dalhousie University.

Beaudoin was previously a referee at the 2016 and 2018 editions of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup including being appointed to the Final in 2018. Beaudoin was appointed to the 2016 Concacaf Under-17 Women’s Championship, as a Referee to the Pan-Am Games in 2015 and also to the 2013 Concacaf Under-17 Women’s Championship where she also refereed the Final.
  
Soccer Nova Scotia provides referees with support and development opportunities by providing training, a referee academy, and a mentoring program.

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For more information, photos please contact:

Carolyn Townsend

Soccer Nova Scotia

m: 902-830-7227