American Referees Cisco Lopez And Kat Roche Make History By Officiating Rugby At The Paris 2024 Olympics

Their selection to officiate at the Olympics marks a groundbreaking moment for USA Rugby

Cisco Lopez and Kat Roche take center stage in Paris, their performance will undoubtedly inspire a new generation of referees /

A historic milestone was reached for USA Rugby as Cisco Lopez and Kat Roche were selected to officiate at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The duo, both seasoned veterans of the World Rugby Sevens Series, are among the 16 referees chosen from around the globe to lead matches at the prestigious sporting event.

“Kat Roche has been an assistant referee with Major League Rugby since 2019, she will become the first female lead referee in MLR history,” said Major League Rugby on X.

Born in United States, Cisco lives in Miami. He played for two years for Miami Rugby's U-19 Division and after that decided to focus on refereeing.

“I had gotten injured in my first season, so I decided to learn the laws since I was still new to the game. I ended up getting certified not too long after that and using reffing as rehab to get back to playing. I took to it pretty well and when I was given some development had a lot of fun,” said Cisco in media reports on why he decided to become a referee.

Rugby's return to the Olympic stage in Paris will mark its fifth appearance since its debut in 1920. As Lopez and Roche prepare to take their place among the world's elite match officials, they will also etch their names into the annals of American rugby history as the first-ever U.S. referees to officiate at the Olympic Games.

“I am very excited to be managing a hugely experienced and talented group of match officials to Paris 2024. To have so many countries represented as well as knowing every region is involved gives our management team a huge amount of satisfaction and is testament to the pathways we have had in place over the past four years,” said World Rugby High Performance Sevens Referee Manager Paddy O’Brien.

Rugby sevens kicked off the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on 24 July, two days before the Opening Ceremony. The men’s competition will take place on 24th to 27th July, with the women’s tournament following from 28-30 July.

“All those selected have worked extremely hard to ensure that when we arrive in Paris, we will have officials able to referee and officiate to the level required for such a special event,” O’Brien added.