Katriina Elovirta | |
Birth Date: | 1961 2, df=y |
Birth Place: | Iisalmi, Finland |
Death Place: | Espoo, Finland |
Position: | Midfielder |
Clubs1: | Helsinki United |
Nationalteam1: | Finland |
Katriina Elovirta (15 February 1961 – 19 June 2018)[1] was a Finnish female footballer and was a well known international match referee who served from 1991 to 2003. She served as a referee affiliating with FIFA between 1995 and 2003 [2] She also worked as a development manager for the Finnish Football Association until her death.[3] [4] Elovirta died at age 57 after a long illness.
Elovirta appeared in 9 international matches as a midfielder for Finland and was a member of the Helsinki United team which won its first domestic Finnish Women's Cup title in 1990 beating FC Kontu 3–2 in the final.[5]
Elovirta went on to become a match referee in 1991 after retiring from playing in international football.[6] She served as a referee in many women's football championships including the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, UEFA Women's Euro 197, UEFA Women's Euro 2001 and 2001-02 UEFA Women's Cup.[7] [8] [9] She also notably served as a match official at the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Final and in the 2002 UEFA Women's Cup Final.[10] In 2005, she was appointed as one of the 5 women instructors as a part of the FIFA technical group.[11]