One of the first female referees in football was Campos, she had to fight for the right to work.
In 1971 Brazil, most people would think long and hard before going anywhere near General Emilio Garrastazu Medici. The country's then-president was a fearsome figure who relied on systematic torture and the assassination of dissenters. She was going to see him.
Joao Havelange, who would become president of world football governing body Fifa, was thought to be Medici's ally in her power struggle with Brazil's sporting authorities.
Four years before that, he had qualified as a referee. She was one of the first women in the world to do so, but the authority that ruled over all sport in Brazil refused to let her work.
The South American country banned organised women's football, as did England. Legislation passed in 1941 excluded women in Brazil from a number of sports. Havelange believed that the ban applied for refereeing. He made his views clear.
"Havelange told me that women's bodies weren't good enough for refereeing men's games," says Campos, now 77.
He said that having periods would make his life difficult. He insisted that women wouldn't be referees as long as he was in charge.
It wasn't the first time that she was fighting for a break in the sport she loved.
In the back row of the team photo, Campos is second from the left.
Born in 1945 in Abaete, a small town in the south-eastern Brazilin state of Minas Gerais, Campos became interested in football at an early age and fondly remembers kicking improvised bundles made of socks. She was discouraged from all sides.
She was stopped from playing football with the boys at school because it wasn't appropriate.
My parents said that it wasn't something for a lady to be involved with.
Her parents pushed her into beauty contests. One of her victories in 1966 helped her land a job in public relations with Cruzeiro.
She was with the team all over the country and her interest in football was rekindled. And then it occurred to her. Maybe she could get more involved in the game.
For a long time, Campos was campaigning for a change in Brazil's sporting laws.
She says that it would have been hard to get support for the cause if she tried to play.
Being a referee was a way to get in. There was no mention of blowing whistles in the law, and women were banned from kicking a ball.
In August 1967, Campos passed the eight-month refereeing course. She may not have been the first woman in the world to do that, but it's difficult to identify the first female referee in football.
It was reported that Drahsan Arda, a Turkish woman, was the first person to receive a letter from Fifa. Arda took charge of her first match in June 1968. She was one of the first female referees in football and received a reply from Fifa that was misinterpreted.
A Swedish woman who is believed to have qualified in 1966 has recently been brought to its attention. Edith Klinger is thought to have worked as a referee in 1935.
It is not certain who was the first, but it acknowledges the importance of researching and is keen to help investigate further.
It can be said that Campos was one of the first. She qualified from her course and started a battle with the patriarchy. They refused to give her a licence because they said the legislation that banned female football players in Brazil also banned female officials.
"I sought legal advice and was reassured that there was nothing in the text that made that distinction," he says. The authorities didn't want to listen.
She spent years trying to get her case heard. She tried to raise awareness by organizing friendly matches where she could serve as a referee, some of which were broken up by the police. In times of severe oppression in Brazil, such 'dissent' wasn't taken lightly; according to Campos, she was arrested at least 15 times.
She received an invitation to participate in the unofficial Women's World Cup in Mexico in 1971 after she received a letter that gave her extra energy to fight her cause. She needed to get past Havelange before she could let the chance pass.
The only way was to use a superior power. For the second time, her beauty pageant past came to her aid.
The 'Army Queen' is pictured in Minas Gerais.
The 'Army Queen' for the Minas Gerais region was one of the many beauty contests that Campos had won. She asked the local commander to help her get an audience with the president.
She was given three minutes. She told him that she needed him to overrule Havelange.
"Medici looked at me and said that he wanted me to meet him in a couple of days at the presidential palace in Brasilia," says Campos.
I was scared. I was challenging the system under the dictatorship. I thought of being arrested or 'disappearing'.
Medici received Campos for lunch after he flew to Brasilia. He wrote a letter to Havelange asking for her refereeing licence. The general revealed that she had fans in the president's inner circle.
She says that one of Medici's sons followed her career closely and had a scrapbook with pictures and newspaper articles about her. His collection was bigger than mine.
Medici agreed to pull rank on Havelange. Not even the larger-than-life future president of Fifa would dare question his orders. Havelange called a press conference in July 1971 and said that after a change of heart, he would be allowed to work as a referee.
He made a speech to the press saying he was honoured to announce that Brazil would have the world's first female referee and that it was happening on his watch.
She was ill with the effects of altitude in Mexico City and was not fit to referee. She was clear to do her work when she got back, but she didn't have a licence to protect her from prejudice.
The story of Campos was featured in an exhibition in Brazil. The museum was called The Offside Museum.
The majority of the 98 games that Campos worked were lower division matches in Brazil in which the presence of a female referee was sold as an exotic attraction.
Newspapers printed several cartoons of dubious taste, and sexism was a constant presence in her work. One of them said players would be aroused by a female referee.
She remembers an under-23 match between Cruzeiro and Atletico Mineiro.
The director lifted his shirt before the match. He had a gun.
I saw the same man in the tunnel after Cruzeiro won. I asked if he still wanted to shoot me. He gave me a hug and said I had a good game.
She was treated the same as a male referee.
Sometimes players would get angry. One person refused to leave the pitch when I told them to. Sometimes players would tell each other off for swearing. I felt respected most of the time.
She was happy as well. But then there was a terrible accident.
The United States has been home to Campos since the 1990s.
In 1974, a bus slammed into the back of a truck. Her left leg was mangled so badly that it barely escaped amputation. The bus she was traveling on was owned by the Havelange family.
He spent two years in a wheelchair after having more than 100 surgeries. She met Luis Eduardo Medina in New York, where they would marry in the 1990s.
She found success in the New York and New Jersey area as a confectioner after reinventing her life as a confectioner. She had two heart attacks in the later years. The most difficult time for her was in May 2020, when her husband lost his job and the couple had severe financial difficulties. They had to live in a friend's house as they became homeless.
A campaign by referees in Brazil raised enough money to rent an apartment in New Jersey. They are weathering the storm.
"What they did was beautiful, and I am really grateful," says Campos. It made me think that I have left a legacy and that my struggle wasn't in vain.
She is proud of how women referees are gaining ground in the game. She "punched the air" when Frappart became the first woman to work a men's match in 2020.
"I felt like my success was a victory for me as well," he says. I realized that everything I went through was worth it. I felt like an old tree that could still produce fruit.
Frappart's landmark was long needed by her. Women referees have come a long way since the 1970s, but there is still a lot of prejudice around.
She wonders why there has never been a woman in charge of a men's World Cup game.
I was expecting things to have evolved a bit more. Men and women referees go through the same training. It's ridiculous.
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