African referees to officiate at Women’s World Cup

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South African female referee Akhona Makalima. Instagram

from AHMED MOOLA in Cairo, Egypt
Egypt Bureau
CAIRO, (CAJ News) – ELEVEN match officials from the continent have been selected to officiate at the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Women’s World Cup Australia/New Zealand 2023.

They are part of 33 referees, 55 assistant referees and 19 video match officials announced by the FIFA Referees Committee for the tournament set for July 20 to August 20.

The three referees from Africa are Vincentia Amedome (Togo), Akhona Makalima (South Africa), and Salima Mukansanga from Rwanda.

Assistant referees, Fomo Carine Atezambong (Cameroon), Diana Chikotesha (Zambia), Soukaina Hamdi, Fatiha Jermoumi and Adil Zourak (all Morocco), Fanta Kone (Mali), Mary Njoroge (Kenya) and Queency Victoire have been selected.

Officials have been chosen in close cooperation with the six FIFA confederations, including the Egyptian-headquartered Confederation of African Football (CAF).

The selection was based on the officials’ quality and the performances delivered at FIFA tournaments as well as at other international and domestic competitions in recent years.

“As always, the criteria we have used is ‘quality first’ and the selected on-field match officials represent the highest level of refereeing worldwide,” said Pierluigi Collina, the chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee.

He believes they can build on the success of the Women’s World Cup 2019 in France where the standard of refereeing was hailed as high.

“The aim for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 is to repeat that success and to convince again with excellent referees’ performances,” Collina added.

For the first time, female video match officials have been selected for a World Cup.

In January and February, the selected match officials will participate in preparatory seminars in Doha (Qtar) and Montevideo (Uruguay).

– CAJ News

 

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