Izuchukwu OkosiRebecca Welch will become the first female referee for a designated Premier League fixture when she officiates Fulham’s match against Burnley on 23 December.
Welch, 40, began refereeing in 2010, and in January became the first woman to referee a men’s Championship game.
Sam Allison will also take charge of a top-flight match in December, making him the Premier League’s first black referee for 15 years.
He will oversee Sheffield United’s match against Luton on 26 December.
Uriah Rennie – the league’s last black referee – retired from officiating in English football’s top four divisions in 2009. The EFL’s last non-white referee – Jarnail Singh – retired in 2010.
“These are pivotal moments for Rebecca and Sam, who are two officials of real quality,” referees’ chief Howard Webb told BBC Sport.
“They deserve their opportunity.”
In July, the Football Association laid out plans to recruit 50% more referees from “historically under-represented” backgrounds by 2026, targeting an increase of 1,000 women referees and 1,000 black or Asian referees at all levels of football in three years.
Currently, 8% of officials are of black or Asian ethnicity, but only 3% in professional football. No black or Asian referee has taken charge of a Premier League game since Rennie’s final match in 2008.
Former firefighter Allison, who has previously spoken about encouraging more officials from under-represented backgrounds, was promoted to the Football League in 2020 and was moved up to the Championship earlier this year.
Welch has also refereed in the Championship this year, as well as taking charge of Women’s Super League and Women’s Champions League matches and refereeing at the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in the summer.
She was the first woman to take charge of an FA Cup third-round tie in 2022 after being added to the EFL’s national list for men’s football, which oversees both League One and League Two fixtures
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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