Fernanda is making her way into a male bastion

Bengaluru, June 20: By making her way into a traditional male bastion, Fernanda Colombo Uliana is certainly hogging the limelight in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The 26-year-old Brazilian is on duty in Russia as a line judge and is incidentally the first woman to do so in a FIFA World Cup.

The Russia World Cup has many firsts to its credit including the introduction of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology as Fernanda also became a part of the history as the first woman line judge to officiate at this level.

Being the first woman on the roster of referees in a mega event like the FIFA World Cup, the pressure is understandably there on Fernanda, but the Latin American is ready for it and relishing the challenge that comes along with the job for sure.

"I had a hard time getting here, I always liked football, I did not play very well and when I was doing a physical education course, I was offered a course in arbitration and I liked it, the road has not been easy," Fernanda was quoted as saying in a recent interview with Spanish online publication Marca.

Born in Santa Catarina, a state located in southern Brazil, Fernanda has a degree in Physical Education. She had her initial fame during the Brazil Cup 2014, where she officiated as line judge in the crunch match between Sao Paulo and CRB.

Fernanda started by officiating in Brazil's C Division before switching gears and moving on to B and A categories. "If I was not good, I would not be here because we are all professionals," Fernanda recalled in the Marca interview about her initiation into the game.

And the crwoning glory came recently as the game's global governing body rewarded her effort and performance, by deciding to let her wear the FIFA badge and added her name to the roaster of line judges to officiate in the Russia World Cup.

And as the quadrennial extravaganza unfolded in Moscow last week, Fernanda added a slice of history of her own by breaking into the men's monopoly.

Fernanda is not the first woman though to be part of a FIFA World Cup officiating panel. That credit goes to Swiss referee Ester Staubli, who had done the honours during the FIFA Under-17 World Cup held in India last year.

(With inputs from Agencies).