Kenyan referee Mary Njoroge is set to go down in history among other five African female referees who will officiate a match at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics for the first time ever. The pentagon of officials including Salma Rhadia Mukansanga (Rwanda), Bernadettar Kwimbira (Malawi), Maria Packuita Cynquela (Mauritius) and Patience Ndidi Madu (Nigeria) are set to take charge when Great Britain take on Australia in the women’s second quarterfinal football match set to be staged at Kashima Soccer Stadium on Friday noon.#Tokyo2020 Five African female referees make Olympic history as they will officiate the quarter-final match:🇬🇧vs🇦🇺✅Salima Rhadia Mukansanga🇷🇼 ✅Mary Njoroge🇰🇪 ✅Patience Ndidi Madu Nigeria🇳🇬 ✅Bernadettar Kwimbira🇲🇼 ✅Maria Packuita Cynquela🇲🇺#itsTimeItsNow #CAFOnline pic.twitter.com/dm163vq7d1— CAF Media (@CAF_Media) July 28, 2021 Njoroge will be part of the main trio who will officiate the Great Britain versus Australia quarter final match. With Rwanda’s Salma Rhadia Mukansanga taking charge of the match as the centre referee, the Kenyan official will be Salma’s second assistant referee and Malawi’s Berbadettar will be the first assistant.The Kenyan assistant referee is not new to the international football scene. In 2019, she became the first Kenyan female referee to do duty at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France between June 7 – July 7. She was also the first Kenyan to feature in the Under-20 Women World Cup held in Brittany, France on August 5-24, 2018 where she officiated in two matches.Her trend-setting does not stop with the women’s game as she was on the list when CAF broke new ground by including women referees for the first time to handle men’s tournaments, during the 2019, Under-17 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Tanzania.Mary was earlier this year appointed to officiate the CAF Confederation Cup group stage match pitting Cameroon’s Coton Sport against Zambia’s NAPSA stars.Coincidentally, Njoroge’s first match at the Olympics was also when Great Britain defeated Chile 2-0 in their opening group E match. Great Britain entered the quarter finals of the Olympic women’s football unbeaten and top of group E at Tokyo 2020 while Australia qualified as one of the two best losers from the group stages. A win in the quarter final would guarantee wither side at least a medal match.The match kicks off at 1200 EAT on Friday.
