Eleni Glouftsis to Make Senior AFL Umpiring Debut / Media Availability Tuesday May 16

The AFL umpiring department wishes to advise that field umpire Eleni Glouftsis will officiate in her first senior AFL match this weekend in the Round Nine match between Essendon and West Coast, to be played at Etihad Stadium on Sunday May 21.

Eleni Glouftsis will be available to media today, Tuesday May 16, for a general interview opportunity as follows:

9am, Tuesday May 16
Mike Sheahan Media Centre
AFL House
Eleni Glouftsis with AFL General Manager Football Operations Simon Lethlean and AFL Umpiring Coach Hayden Kennedy

Glouftsis has been an AFL Pathway umpire since the start of the 2016 Toyota Premiership Season, and has previously been eligible to be an emergency umpire for matches during the past two seasons as a development umpire.

She will become the first female field umpire in VFL/AFL history, having umpired 33 VFL games over the past season and a half, after previously coming through the SANFL with 15 senior games in South Australia.

She umpired her first AFL-sanctioned game in 2016 as an Essendon v Carlton NAB Challenge match at Ikon Park and then umpired four pre-season JLT Community Series matches earlier this year.

Glouftsis, 25 today, was placed in the AFL Female Pathway Scholarship in 2015 as the most-promising female field umpire at state league level across the country, with specialised coaching and other assistance designed to fast-track her progress.

She began umpiring in 2008 and progressed through the SANFL Under 16s, Under 18s and Reserves before making her senior state league debut as the first female field umpire in the competition’s 137-year history in August 2013. She also umpired the Division One SA Amateurs Grand Final in 2012 and the SANFL Reserves Grand Final in both 2013 and 2014.