Estela Álvarez

Career

Álvarez de Olivera grew up in Oberá, Misiones Province, with seven brothers and one sister. She recalled that after Sunday asados, her brothers would leave to play football while she and her sister Liliana helped wash dishes. She studied physical education in Misiones Province, then moved to Buenos Aires in 2001 after graduating as a PE teacher, aiming to become a swimming trainer. In her spare time she took a refereeing course.

In 2003 the Argentine Football Association (AFA) included her in its training, and from 2004 she oversaw children's tournaments and AFA women's football. FIFA made her an international referee in 2005, and she debuted at a CONMEBOL tournament in January 2006 at the South American Women's Football Championship in Argentina. She was appointed for the women's tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, officiating the bronze medal match between Germany and Japan.

Her international career included two FIFA Women's World Cups: 2007 in China and 2011 in Germany, where she oversaw two group stage matches, including Australia versus Norway for Group D. She was the first female referee to lead matches in two male divisions in Argentina: first in 2000 in the Torneo Federal A and in June 2009 in the Primera Nacional, leading a match between San Martín de San Juan and Independiente Rivadavia. In 2006 she stated she admired Argentine referees Héctor Baldassi, Oscar Sequeira, and Horacio Elizondo. Her niece Antonella became FIFA-listed in 2022.

Controversy

The note pointed to her brother Baldomero, mayor of Avellaneda, having a personal friendship with Grondona, and to the chief of the school of referees, Abel Gnecco, working as an employee for the municipality of Avellaneda. The note provided no evidence, only noting Baldomero's shift from supporting Eduardo Duhalde to joining Kirchnerism, of which Perfil was critical at the time.