By Jon Ritson

The 28-year-old is the first woman to be selected for the A-League referees panel and Ho will be running the line when the Mariners take on Wellington Phoenix on Saturday.

She said: “I'm thrilled to have this opportunity to officiate in the Hyundai A-League.

"My main motivation is to referee at the highest level possible, and as a result I am looking forward to the challenge of refereeing in the Hyundai A-League.

"Like most elite referees, my ambition is to referee at the FIFA World Cup.

Football Federation Australia National Refereeing Manager, Richard Lorenc was glowing in his praise of Sarah Ho.

He said: “Throughout the whole selection process Sarah was considered based on merit and had to pass the same theoretical, performance and fitness tests as the men.

"Sarah has proved herself on the local and international stage and we look forward to watching her future development at Hyundai A-league level.”

Sarah began her refereeing career in the Blue Mountains of NSW in the Nepean Junior competition. After showing promise at a local level, Sarah refereed at the National Youth Championships for Girls and also Boys Youth League.

Sarah, is no stranger to senior men's football having refereed in the NSW Premier League and State League competitions for the past 5 years.

Based on her performances, Sarah was awarded her FIFA Assistant referees badge in 2004 and officiated her first international match in February 2004 at the Australia Cup in Brisbane.

Since then Sarah has been received appointments to the OFC U19 Women's Qualifiers, 2004 FIFA U19 Women's World Championships in Thailand, AFC Asian Women's Cup Qualifiers, 2006 FIFA U20 Women's World Championships and FIFA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Sarah will join the likes of Mark Shield and Matthew Breeze who are currently refereeing at the AFC Asian Cup 2007.