First Female Referee Salima Mukansanga To Officiate At The World Cup
Rwandan referee Salima Mukansanga has been selected to officiate at the 2022 FIFA World Cup slated from November 21 to December 18 in Qatar.
The milestone comes after making history as the first woman to referee a men’s match at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) earlier this year in Cameroon.
Mukansanga is among three female referees selected for the first time for a men’s FIFA World Cup alongside Japanese Yamashita Yoshimi and French Stephanie Frappart.
The trio is part of the final list of the 36 match referees announced by World football governing body (FIFA) on Thursday, May 19.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s Neuza Back, Mexico’s Karen Diaz Medina and American Kathryn Nesbitt have been included in the 69 assistant referees.
“We are very happy that … we have been able to call up female match officials for the first time in the history of a FIFA World Cup,” FIFA Referees Committee chairman Pierluigi Collina said.
All match officials for the finals will participate in seminars in Asuncion, Madrid and Doha.