World Cup referee Yoshimi Yamashita among first women match officials at Asian Cup

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Referee Yoshimi Yamashita will return to Qatar to make more soccer history at the men’s Asian Cup in January after she worked in the country last year at the men’s World Cup. The Asian Football Confederation has picked Yamashita and Katherine Jacewicz of Australia among the referees. The assistants selected are Makoto Bozono and Naomi Teshirogi of Japan and Kim Kyoung Min of South Korea. The 24-team Asian Cup will be played mostly in the same stadiums as the men’s World Cup. Yamashita was the fourth official for six group games at last year’s World Cup.