Zimbabwe v Guinea: All-women refereeing team make history at AFCON

Rwandan referee Salima Rhadia Mukansanga made history on Tuesday in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) match between Zimbabwe and Guinea, becoming the first female referee to officiate a match in a men’s continental football tournament.

Mukansanga is no stranger to making history, and achieved a historical feat days earlier when she was chosen to be the fourth official in Guinea’s 1-0 victory over Malawi on January 10, the first for a woman.

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For the Zimbabwe vs Guinea match on Tuesday, the 35-year-old was part of a quartet of female officials chosen by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to officiate the match. The others in the quartet were Carine Atemzabong from Cameroon, and Fatiha Jermoumi and Bouchra Karboubi from Morocco.

The all-women team became the first-ever to officiate a match at the AFCON since its establishment 65 years ago in 1957.

Commenting on the decision to select Mukansanga for as the main referee for Tuesday’s match, Eddy Maillet, the CAF’s Head of Referees, said, “We are super proud of Salima because she has had to work exceptionally hard to be where she is today.”

“We know that for a woman, she has had to overcome serious obstacles to reach this level and she deserves a lot of credit. This moment is not just for Salima but for every young girl in Africa who has passion for football and who sees herself as a referee in the future,” Maillet added.

Mukansanga had earlier officiated matches at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Olympics, the Africa Women Cup of Nations, and the CAF Women’s Champions League.

The Group B match between Zimbabwe and Guinea ended 2-1 in favour of Zimbabwe. Knowledge Musona opened the scoring for Zimbabwe with a 26th minute goal, while Kudakwashe Mahachi doubled Zimbabwe’s lead mere minutes before half-time.

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Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita managed to bring Guinea back into the game with a 49th minute goal, but could not inspire his team to a make a comeback.

Senegal now sit at the top of Group B with five points from three games, while Guinea and Malawi are second and third with four points each. Zimbabwe, despite their victory against Guinea, are bottom with three points.