Israeli referee Sapir Berman beamed as she recalled the moment her “dream came true” earlier this year, when she became the first transgender woman to officiate an international football match.

“I always wanted to be a woman, and I always wanted to be a football referee — and then those two came together and fused into one dream that just exploded with joy,” the 31-year-old told AFP.

“It’s an uplifting, powerful feeling — the feeling that I’m doing the right thing, that I’m choosing myself, that I’m showing the world it’s possible.

“Since I was five, I remember wanting to be a woman, wanting to be a girl. And when I started playing football, I realised that the dream of being a woman and playing football didn’t go together,” she said.

“So I decided to hide who I was and just keep playing football. I hid myself for almost 26 years.”

Berman grew up in a football-loving family, playing as a defender for around 10 years from around the age of five.

When she realised her professional ambitions were not working out, she joined the referees association and worked her way up to preside over men’s matches in the Israeli Premier League.

But all the while, Berman felt she was hiding her innermost secret and was even frustrated during the initial stage of her hormone therapy.

It was when the Covid-19 pandemic hit and Berman was plunged into lockdown that she began reflecting on the future.

“I asked myself: ‘Is this what life will look like? Is this where it’s going?’” she said.

“I decided to reveal myself.”

Berman initially feared her career in football was over, but said her brother suggested she try to make it work.

– ‘A lot of questions’ –

England’s Lucy Clark became the first transgender woman in the world to referee a match in 2018, in the third tier of English women’s football, but has never officiated internationally.

When Berman officiated the Women’s Under-17 Euro qualifier between Northern Ireland and Montenegro in Belfast in March, it was a first for European football, according to UEFA.

Berman said the journey was not always easy, despite great support and professionalism from Israel’s referees association.

“There were a lot of questions, and a lot of moments where they said: ‘We don’t know what to do.’ And I also didn’t know what to do, what it involved, what to expect, or how the process would go,” she said.

Berman said that when she began hormone therapy as part of her transition, she initially felt resentful towards her body.

“Outside the field, I felt amazing. On the field, I felt that I destroyed my career,” she said.

She failed two fitness tests and was moved down a league, but with the help of a sports psychologist and “a lot of trial and error”, she made her comeback.

Berman received her international badge earlier this year and dreams of refereeing a match in the Champions League, the European Championship or the World Cup.

– ‘Different layers’ –

Transgender participation has become a hot-button issue as different sports try to balance inclusivity with ensuring fair competition.

Earlier this year, England’s Football Association announced that transgender women would no longer be allowed to play in women’s football.

Berman said she trusted those in decision-making bodies and expected them to “find the way to integrate, to unite, to diversify”.

“Human beings are made up of so many different layers, and you come and reject us for just one reason,” she said, explaining how an athlete’s performance could also be affected by mental, financial, geographical or familial factors.

On the pitch, Berman said she has received positive reactions from both players and supporters.

“The fans continued to curse me — only now, they did it in the feminine form,” she said, adding it “was a kind of stamp of approval — that they see me exactly as I am”.

And on the street, young people have told her that her story has given them hope.

“That fills me up. It gives me so much strength to keep going and doing what I do — because at the end of the day, I chose myself.”

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Nigeria’s Ezekiel Nathaniel has been backed to win a medal in the men’s 400m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo after a Kenyan official singled him out on arrival in Japan.

Speaking to Making of Champs at Narita International Airport, the Kenyan representative made clear that while his first loyalty was to his own team, he also wished success for the Nigerian hurdler.

“As much as I’m wishing my team all the best, all the medals, I also wish Nigerian Nathaniel the 400m hurdles to get a medal, at least a medal, either gold, silver, or bronze for the hard-working Nigerians,” he said.

When asked why he picked Nathaniel, the official explained that his view was shaped by the 22-year-old’s consistency.

“I’ve seen him run. I’ve seen him run a couple of races, and he’s come out to be one of the best over a couple of years now,” he said.

Nathaniel arrives in Tokyo as one of Africa’s leading medal hopes. He broke his own Nigerian record this summer at the Silesia Diamond League with a run of 47.31s, finishing between world record-holder Karsten Warholm and Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba. That time ranks him fifth fastest in the world this year.

The fresh Baylor University graduate has also gone unbeaten on the American collegiate circuit and produced the third-fastest mark in NCAA history.

He told the Diamond League media in August that he is confident of finding another gear at the Championships.

“I feel like I’m running fast right now, but I still have more in the tank and I’m ready to do more,” he said.

Nathaniel has already lined up against the best in the world, testing himself against Alison dos Santos and Rai Benjamin in Eugene before going head-to-head with Warholm in Silesia.

He believes that experience has sharpened him. “By running with these guys, I feel like it is different to race with the professionals in the game. It feels good to compete with them,” he said.

The men’s 400m hurdles in Tokyo will once again feature Warholm, Benjamin and Dos Santos, a trio who have transformed the event in recent years and continue to push the boundaries of what is possible. Warholm arrives as world leader after clocking 46.28s in Poland, Benjamin is the Olympic champion, and Dos Santos is seeking to reclaim the world crown he won in Oregon in 2022.

With the heats of the discipline set for September 15, semi-finals two days later and the final on September 19, Nathaniel will be aiming to turn that outside faith into Nigeria’s first global medal in the event.

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Arne Slot on Friday described new signing Alexander Isak as “maybe the best striker in the world” but warned he would be eased into action gradually after a disrupted pre-season.

The Premier League champions signed the Sweden forward from Newcastle on transfer deadline day for a British-record fee of £125 million ($169 million), adding further firepower to their impressive squad.

Isak’s arrival after a protracted chase was part of an eye-catching splurge of more than £400 million in the summer transfer window, though a deadline-day move to sign Crystal Palace and England defender Marc Guehi collapsed.

“A lot of things happened on the last day (of the transfer window), which is not always the situation, because last season we hardly did anything during the whole window,” Slot said on Friday.

“But the thing that pleases me most, of course, is us getting the deal for Alex over the line.”

The Dutchman praised Sweden manager Jon Dahl Tomasson for the way he handled Isak’s workload during the international break.

The 25-year-old, who has not played any club football this season, was on the bench for Sweden’s 2-2 World Cup qualifying draw against Slovenia and was brought on as a late substitute in the 2-0 defeat against Kosovo.

“He gets one of the best, maybe the best striker in the world, and needs to play two very important games for his country, but understands that if he would play him twice for 90 minutes, then probably the player would have been injured,” Slot said.

“And that’s not always easy for a manager, that he takes care of the interest of a player, so he deserves a big compliment for that. And we will treat Alex the same as they did, so don’t expect him to be every single game 90 minutes on the pitch.

“That’s definitely not going to happen in the upcoming weeks. He missed a proper pre-season, I think he missed three or four months of team sessions, so now we have to build him up gradually, with us playing so many games, hardly any training time.”

– Isak criticism –

Slot, speaking ahead of Sunday’s match against Burnley, brushed off criticism that Isak received after he agitated to leave Newcastle, where he still had three more years to run on his contract.

“Sometimes people cheer for you, so I think after he won the League Cup (trophy last season), everyone was really happy with him,” he said.

“And in other moments you get criticised — this is part of his life, my life, our jobs. Now he’s a player for us and I’m really happy with that.”

Slot, whose team have won all three of their Premier League matches so far this season, admitted he had been keen to sign Guehi but would not be drawn about any future bid.

“I think it would be a bit ridiculous if I’m going to deny that we were close to signing him,” he said. “That’s so out in the open, that would be ridiculous.

“These things happen in football, it happened to our players maybe in the past as well, that they thought they were so close on signing somewhere else, and then in the last moment things changed.”

Slot, who is eyeing a record 21st English league title with Liverpool, said he had options in defence.

“It’s a pity, not only for us but also for the player, I think,” he said. “But he’s in a good place playing at Palace, where he won the Community Shield and the FA Cup, with a very good manager as well. So let’s see what the future brings for him and for us.”

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