Rwanda’s Salima Rhadia Mukansanga will become the first female referee to officiate in a Total Energies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2021).
The 35-year old Mukansanga has been appointed as the centre referee for the match between Zimbabwe and Guinea at the Ahmador Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde tomorrow.
The experienced Mukansanga who has also officiated at the Olympics among other big events was a fourth officiate on January 10th , 2022 during the on-going TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations in a game between Guinea and Malawi in Bafoussam.
Besides Mukansanga, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has also selected three other female officials who will take charge of the same match. The other women match officials are assistant referees Carine Atemzabong (Cameroon) and Fatiha Jermoumi (Morocco) as well as VAR referee Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco).
Eddy Maillet, the CAF head of referees said it is a proud moment for Africa to have women take charge of an AFCOn match.
“We are super proud of Salima because she has had to work exceptionally hard to be where she is today. We know that for a woman, she has had to overcome serious obstacles to reach this level and she deserves a lot of credit,” added Maillet.
The AFCON 2021 which kicked off on January 9th will climax on February 6th. Already hosts Cameroon, Nigeria and Morocco have qualified for the round of 16 after winning their opening two games each. The Desert Foxes of Algeria are the defending champions.
