A Catholic from Goa, the first woman in India to referee a major men’s football match on Sunday, said she received accolades for her performance.

“Certainly there was a little pressure, not from the players, but because I was being assessed by the AFC [Asian Football Confederation] official who flew from Kuala Lumpur,” Maria Rebello told ucanews.com.

Rebello, 38, a parishioner of St. Alex Parish in Curtorim, Goa, refereed the Santosh Trophy National Football Championship in Kolkata on July 25.

The Catholic sportswoman, who captained the national women’s squad and played for India six times as a midfielder in the 1990s, is a fully accredited FIFA referee.

She is presently being considered for promotion to the AFC’s elite referees’ panel, which consists of only around 100 referees across Asia.

The AFC official, who flew to Kolkata to assess her capabilities, “was overall pleased with my performance,” said Rebello.

“He felt that I had exercised adequate control. He appreciated my capabilities in handling the proceedings and suggested some measures in some areas which I need to improve further,” she said.

Ezilda Sapeco, chairperson of the Goa State Women’s Commission, congratulated Rebello for “showing that women are as capable as men as far as refereeing men’s football matches, which was so far the domain of men.”

Rebello could very well be the first Goan on the AFC panel, said Savio Messais, secretary of the Goa Football Association, adding that the sportswoman has been a model for young footballers.

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