A female Rwandan referee has made history at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Cameroon by becoming the first woman to officiate a match in the tournament’s 65-year history.
Salima Mukansanga was the fourth official—an assistant who helps the referee by supervising substitution procedures and performing other administrative duties—for the group stage match between Guinea and Malawi on Jan. 10. And later, on Jan. 18, she refereed the group stage match between Zimbabwe and Guinea.
“It’s a privilege. It’s a pleasure to me, to the rest of African women referees,” Mukansanga said at a press conference on Jan. 21 by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the tournament’s organizer. “It’s [an] opportunity to open the door and to show that all African [women] are capable. They can reach that stage.”
