PHOTO GALLERY “They told me I was too attractive to promote. Football players approached me in the dressing room” » He managed the most important matches possible, but hit a roadblock

The Italian-French referee, who has officiated over 200 matches, including the 2019 Women's World Cup final and the European Super Cup between Liverpool and Chelsea, revealed that the football world has not always applauded her decisions, but rather her physicality.

PHOTO GALLERY. Manuela Nicolosi: “I just wanted to referee, not be a decoration”

“I was told that I must be less visible, that I attract too much attention. They didn't let me move from Serie C to Serie B because, by the looks, I was too attractive. And I just wanted to referee, not to be a decoration,” Manuela said according to sportal.blic.rs.

Football, she says, can be tough on both men and women. He recalls a scene in an Italian lower league: “I locked myself in the dressing room while the coaches were shouting 'we're going to kill you'. The police took me out. I'll never forget that day.”

While some men tried to show her «where she belongs», others approached her – sometimes even too much. “Yes, it happened that players approached me in an inappropriate way in the locker room. But I never accepted it. Maybe that's why I didn't progress quickly.”

Today, Manuela is the only woman in the Kings League, the project initiated by Pique with seven-on-seven football and new rules. On Instagram, she broadcasts: “New leagues, new rules, but the same passion. The same excitement. The same me, the only woman with a whistle in this madness.”

Several netizens left her comments marveling at the fact that she is 45 years old, saying that she doesn't show her age at all:

• “You're really 45? I can't believe it!”

• “You look much younger”

• “45? I thought you were 25!”