Meet The Six Female Referees Officiating At AFCON 2023

These female referees will be officiating, bringing their expertise and wealth of experience to AFCON 2023.

All over the world, women continue to shatter ceilings and break boundaries in male-dominated fields, e.g., football.

Out of the 68 match officials at the 2023 AFCON tournament currently held in Ivory Coast, six female referees will be shining their light on the pitch.

These female referees will be officiating, bringing their expertise and wealth of experience.

Here are the six of them.

1. Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco)

Bouchra is the only female lead referee at the AFCON 2023 tournament.

Born in Taza, in the north-east of Morocco, Bouchra Karboubi is a Moroccan international football referee who started playing football in the junior category at a young age.

A woman of many ‘firsts’, her journey into the world of referring began at the age of 19. In 2016, she climbed a new level by becoming an international referee two years after she passed a physical test to arbitrate men’s matches.

She officiated her first international competition, which was a match in the final tournament of the African Women’s Football Cup of Nations, held in Ghana. In 2020, she set a personal milestone when she became the first woman to referee a first-division match of the men’s professional championship in Morocco, the Botola Pro1.

Karboubi also made headlines in 2022 after she became the first female referee to officiate Morocco’s Throne Cup final between the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces Club (AS FAR Rabat) and Moghreb Tetouan. She was in charge of the VAR room in the historic all-women referee team that officiated for the first time at the AFCON in the group game between Zimbabwe and Guinea in January 2022.

At the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, she became the first Arab referee to officiate when she took charge of the match between the defending champions, the United States of America and Vietnam.

The 36-year-old mother of one is also a police inspector at the Prefectural Directorate of the Judicial Police of the Meknes Police Headquarters in Morocco.

2. Rivet Maria Pakuita Cinqueila (Mauritius)

Listed as one of three female referees in the VAR room at the 2023 AFCON, Rivet Maria was the fourth official at the final of the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations in 2022.

She was also in charge of VAR in the Africa Superleague match between Wyad Casablanca and Enyimba in October 2023. She was one of the VAR referees at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

3. Diana Chikotesha (Zambia)

Diana brings a wealth of experience to the AFCON tournament, where she will officiate as an assistant referee.

She had an impressive run in 2022 when she took charge at the FIFA Women’s U20 World Cup in Costa Rica, the CAF Women’s Champions League, and the 2022 Africa Women’s Nations Cup (WAFCON).

She was one of the assistant referees at the FIFA Women’s World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand in 2023.

Chikotesha who obtained her FIFA badge in 2014 becomes the first Zambian female referee to take part in the men’s AFCON tournament.

4. Akhona Zennith Malakima (South Africa)

Akhona Makalima is the first certified female soccer referee in South Africa, where she officiates for FIFA, the Premier Soccer League, the SASOL Women’s League, CAF Champions Leagie, Africa Women’s Cup of Nations and the South African Football Association (SAFA).

The 35-year-old shot into the global spotlight when she made her maiden Women’s World Cup appearance in 2023 as the fourth official when Denmark took on China at the Perth Stadium in Australia.

Akhona uses her position as a women’s sports pioneer to encourage and influence young South African women to participate in sports at all levels.

She is listed as one of the VAR referees at the AFCON 2023.

5. Salima Mukansanga (Rwanda)

History-making Salima Mukansanga needs no introduction. In 2022, she became the first female to officiate a game at the men’s AFCON since its inception in 1957. She achieved this feat on January 18th with the first all-women referee team in the Zimbabwe-Guinea game.

She was also one of three female referees selected to officiate at the FIFA World Cup hosted in Qatar, making her the first female African to officiate at the men’s World Cup in 2022.

The 35-year-old certified nurse has officiated at the Olympics, FIFA Women’s World Cups ( 2019 & 2023), Africa Women’s Cup of Nations, and CAF Women’s Champions League.

Mukansanga will serve as a VAR referee at the 2023 AFCON.