In 2022, Salima Mukansanga of Rwanda made history by becoming the first woman to referee a men’s Afcon match in Cameroon. In this year‘s edition, Bouchra Karboubi is the only female referee, even thou there are six female match officials at the tournament in Ivory Coast. The Moroccan based referee also had a record of her own, when she led an all-female team team of officials when Nigeria beat Guinea-Bissau in the group stage. Karboubi is from a town of Meknes in Northern Morocco and outside of football pitch, she is a policewoman.Morocco’s Bouchra Karboubi (L) is the first woman from North Africa and the Arab world to officiate a men’s #AFCON match.She is the only female referee at #AFCON2023 in Ivory Coast. Rwanda’s Salma Mukansanga became the first woman to refer the men’s AFCON tournament in 2022.… pic.twitter.com/QBqjhbwP83— Charles Onyango-Obbo (@cobbo3) January 30, 2024 “Being a policewoman for me, means applying justice. As a referee, it’s me who applies the law and it’s a win-win because it’s a job and it’s my passion and they are linked to each other” she told BBC Sport Africa.Salima Mukansanga, the pioneering Rwandan referee, is set to make history as the first African female referee to officiate at a Men’s FIFA World Cup. 🌍⚽🇷🇼#knowAfrika pic.twitter.com/JUgu45gtXn— 🌍Afrika Facts N Data (@Know_Afrika) February 5, 2024 Karboubi was really happy when she became the first North African woman to referee at a men’s Afcon, but she didn‘t forgot to mention her other roles.”The emotions were enormous. It is an honour for me, for my family, for my country and for African women in general. It’s true that at work I’m a police officer and on the field I’m a referee. But at home, I am a woman, I am the woman of the house and the mother of a daughter” said the 36-old women.Spurs won’t like this: Bissouma has malaria but still played at AFCONEven though Karboubi mentions the support of her family, it was not always like that. There were a lot of prejudges and she was constantly under pressure from her family to give up. She said in 2021 that her family found it difficult to accept the fact that she wanted to pursue her career in sports, and gave an example when her brothers once found her assistant’s flag and tore it up. After she finished crying, Karboubi sewed the flag up and went on to training. The breakthrough came in 2007, when he father finally watched her in action as a referee in a women‘s game and decided to support her. In the meantime she also became the first African woman to qualify as a video assistant referee (VAR).##NAJAVA_MECA_7852766##But, Karboubi has no doubts that her path is harder just because she is a women, and the same goes for her colleagues around the world.”It’s true that women, to get to this level, they must work extra hard. First physically, because to be ready for a men’s match we must be physically fit like the men. After that the technical expertise, that we must have of course, on the rules of the game. If a man makes mistakes, they will say that he’s a man, he’s only human. But a woman will be criticized twice as much because she is a female referee” she said.
