Meet Salima Mukansanga, the first African female referee to officiate in a FIFA World Cup

Ahead of start of 2022 men's World Cup in Qatar, Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) made history by listing female referees among its 36 officials. Rwanda’s Salima Mukansanga, Yamashita Yoshimi of Japan and Stephanie Frappart of France are three female officials in ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022. Mukansanga made history in Qatar by becoming  first African woman to officiate a men's World Cup match. She was fourth official during France vs Australia match. 

FIFA World Cup 2022: A look into Salima Mukansanga's career 

Before Qatar 2022, Salima Mukansanga had made history after being named official for Africa Cup of Nations 2022 (AFCON). Mukansanga's biggest landmark of her refereeing career before FIFA World Cup 2022 was officiating   Zimbabwe vs Guinea match in AFCON. She had become first female referee to officiate a match in 65-year history of AFCON Cup of Nations. She was fourth official during Guinea vs Malawi match which Guinea won 1-0. first African female referee Rwanda also officiated games in 2019 Women’s World Cup and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. 

journey to top hasn't been a smooth ride having to face rejection during early days. Mukansanga was initially rejected by Rwandan FA on account of her , having approached m about joining a referee's course straight out of secondary school. Following rejection, she first taught herself basics of officiating, and Laws of Game, and was eventually given opportunity of studying with or new referees.

In an interview with BBC, Mukansanga said "I didn't kw re is a lot to do - laws to follow, a mentality to follow, professionalism inside - but I started to learn step-by-step. It was very difficult. When you are reading laws of game, it's easy to understand but inside field of play, it needs some time to have a smell for job."

Salima Mukansanga shares her thoughts on Women referees in FIFA World Cup 

Apart from Mukansanga, Frappart and Yamashita, FIFA World Cup 2022 will also witness female assistant referees which will be Neuza Back from Brazil, Karen Diaz Medina from Mexico and Kathryn Nesbitt from United States. Talking about appointment of women referees at FIFA World Cup 2022, Mukansanga said, "We are going to work toger for success of women. If a woman is supporting ar woman, of course, you are going to see fruits. re are barriers, obstacles and challenges. re is thing to do about m than for us to fight with a strong mentality, commitment and full engment - n we will overcome."