Christina Westrum Pedersen (born 9 April 1981) is a Norwegian football referee. She took up refereeing in 1997 and has officiated in the

Toppserien The Toppserien is the top level of women's association football in Norway. It was founded in 1984. History Women's league football was introduced on a county basis in 1977. These leagues acted as qualification for the regional (South) league in 1 ...

since 2005. She resides in

Åndalsnes is a town in Rauma Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Åndalsnes is in the administrative center of Rauma Municipality. It is located along the Isfjorden, at the mouth of the river Rauma, at the north end of the Romsdalen valley. ...

, and represents

Åndalsnes IF Åndalsnes Idrettsforening is a Norwegian sports club from Åndalsnes, Møre og Romsdal. It has sections for association football, team handball, floorball, gymnastics, track and field and skiing. It was founded on 25 May 1917. The men's footba ...

. Pedersen officiated at the

2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 5th edition of the tournament. It was held in Germany, who will also host the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup a year later from 13 July to 1 August 2010. Sixteen teams, comprising representatives from all ...

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the even ...

and the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. During the 2012 Summer Olympics, Pedersen officiated the

semi-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

match between

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In the 78th minute, a controversial delay of game call was made against the Canadian goalkeeper,

Erin McLeod Erin Katrina McLeod (born February 26, 1983) is a Canadian soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Stjarnan of the Icelandic Besta deild kvenna. She first appeared for the Canada women's national soccer team at the 2002 Algarve Cup and ...

, when she held the ball longer than the allowed six seconds. This violation is rarely called in international play, or at any other level of soccer, and is only intended to be used during instances of clear and deliberate time-wasting. As a result, the American side was awarded a rare indirect free-kick in the box, in the eightieth minute, with Canada leading the match 3–2. On the ensuing play, another controversial handball call was made against the Canadian side, awarding the American team a penalty kick, which

Abby Wambach Mary Abigail Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American retired soccer player, coach, and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, Wambach was a regular on the U.S. women's natio ...

converted to tie the game at 3–3. The Americans went on to win the match in extra time, advancing to the gold medal match. After the match, Canada forward

Christine Sinclair Christine Margaret Sinclair (born June 12, 1983) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward and captains both National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club Portland Thorns FC and the Canadian national team. An Olympic go ...

stated, "the ref decided the result before the game started." FIFA responded by saying it was considering disciplinary action against Sinclair, but that any disciplinary action would be postponed until after the end of the tournament. Sinclair was eventually suspended for four games for her conduct. Pedersen was not selected to referee at any major international competition since the incident.

References

1981 births Living people Norwegian football referees Women association football referees FIFA Women's World Cup referees Olympic football referees Football referees at the 2012 Summer Olympics People from Møre og Romsdal Women referees and umpires {{Norway-women-footy-bio-stub