Top facts about Salima Mukansanga, the first woman to referee at the AFCON

A few days following that Mukansanga was assigned as a fourth official in the game between Guinea and Malawi in Bafoussam at the AFCON 2021, she picked up the honour to preside over the Group B clash of Zimbabwe's 2-1 triumph over Guinea, at the Ahmadou Ahidjo

in Yaounde.

In doing this, the 34-year-old broke a glass ceiling so as to become the first woman referee in the 65-year history of the Cup of Nations, since all the prior 32 editions of the tournament from 1957 were oversaw exclusively by men.

Even if she has been one of four female officials at the

, along with Moroccan Bouchra Karboubi and Fatiha Jermoumi as well as Cameroonian Carine Atemzabong, until now she is the only one who has received the honour to designate as a primary referee.

In spite of the fact that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) earlier had announced that Mukansanga would be assisted with the two latter female referees when she entered the pitch for that match, she was accompanied by two male assistant referees without any instant suggestion for the reason behind this change.

As one of the top facts about Salima Mukansanga, it is fascinating to indicate that her temperament has drawn a lot of resemblance to that of the former Italian referee Pierluigi Collina who was heralded as FIFA’s ‘Best Referee of the Year” six successive times, being highly revered as one the best football referee of all time.

But what Mukansanga believes that has made her utterly prepared for the milestone of AFCON, was her contribution to the

, where she refereed Team GB's matches against Chile and Australia, and the encounter between the Netherlands and China.

Her imminent debut is another new landmark for woman referees, just a bit following that Rebecca Welch became the first woman referee to be at the helm of an FA Cup third-round tie as she oversaw Plymouth Argyle's triumph over

.

Moreover, France’s Stephanie Frappart and Ukraine’s Kateryna Monzul last year became the first women to officiate FIFA World Cup qualifiers, opening the doors for many other women.

Besides, it is notable to suggest that statistics of female referees is staggering as well, increasing by 76% from 2016 to 2020 in English football, just for example.

Top facts about Salima Mukansanga, the first woman to referee at the AFCON

Come along with us to delve into the Top facts about Salima Mukansanga, the first woman to referee at the AFCON.

Salima Mukansanga early life

Hailing from Rwanda,

Salima Mukansanga childhood

was spent in Rusizi District, West Province while she went on to get a bachelor’s degree from the University of Gitwe in Nursing and Midwifery.

At a time when she was a youngster, Salima Mukansanga's ambition was to become a a professional

, yet he was forced to let that lofty aspiration fade away in the cope of limited access to basketball infrastructure, facilities and decent coaching.

But this does not make her discouraged to develop her passion for sport, instead, she lost her heart to new a profession and that was football refereeing to the point that even at a young age, during her penultimate year of secondary school at St Vincent de Paul Musanze, she was already busy with football refereeing and the next year she grabbed her first certificate in match officiating.

In regard to her early passion she once indicated the following terms: “I liked basketball, and wanted to take it very seriously, but access to basketball infrastructure and coaches was hard. That’s how I ended up in refereeing, which I have also never regretted. I love it.”

In what follows, she also expressed how she was specifically inclined to football refereeing: "I used to play football at primary and secondary school, but when I used to watch games, I liked to watch the one who was on the field of play, who was taking decisions, leading players, talking to the players, the one who people are respecting on the field of play, and that person interested me."

Mukansanga continued: "I wanted to be like that person on the field of play, I wanted to do what he was doing and I needed to learn more about that person, the one leading the game, giving them cards, sanctioning them. That's why I had this passion."

Even if originally Rwandan FA rejected her due to her young age, she still managed to teach herself the basic learnings of officiating, the Laws of the Game, and therefore she was finally provided with the opportunity of studying with other new referees.

After learning the initial formation, she came back to her hometown and started to officiate matches for veterans and amateur players respectively, until she finally worked her way up through the local footballing pyramid, as she began with third division men's games.

In the light of dedication he showed in that year, and the fact that she immersed herself in extensive learning days and nights, she could be appointed to a few matches in the men’s second division league and the women’s top tier in late 2008.

Salima Mukansanga career as a FIFA-badge referee

While Mukansanga could manage to become a FIFA-badge referee in 2012, it was not until four years later that she grabbed worldwide recognition when she started presiding over games in the Rwandan men’s second division league as well as the women’s top tier.

In 2014 she received the honour to handle her first continental game as the centre referee in a pathbreaking match that was the 2014 CAF African Women’s Championship qualification encounter between Zambia and Tanzania.

“It is because of how I handled that match that I proved my ability to lead matches at any level on the continent. It was an exciting experience. Since that day, I have been trusted to officiate countless international matches in

and beyond,” she recalls that blissful memory.

As one of the

top facts about Salima Mukansanga

, one can appoint this stage as a turning point in her glorious refereeing career as he has been highly heralded as one of Africa’s most skilled female referees.

Salima Mukansanga continental experiences

Her first international contribution was when she handled matches at the 2015 All-African Games in Congo Brazzaville.

In the 0-3 defeat of Tanzania to Super Falcons of

in their second group game, she was the centre referee and went on to officiate the first semi-final game between Ivory Coast and Ghana, which was resulted in a 1-0 victory for Black Queens.

Not to mention that she was also among the 2016 African Women Championship in Cameroon, and went on to handle two games which were group stages matches of Soth Africa’s 5-0 smashing of

and Mali’s 3-1 defeat to Kenya.

Salima Mukansanga international recognition

One of the most amazing top facts about Salima Mukansanga is that she was honoured to become the only African referee included among the officials for the 2018 U-17

that took place in Uruguay.

In this tournament, She officiated two games, most notably a quarter-final fixture between Germany and Canada.

Her inclusion among the four African officials for the Women’s World Cup in France, in 2019 by no means would be excluded from our top facts about Salima Mukansanga, especially when she was at the helm of the Group F encounter of Sweden against Thailand, that resulted in 5-1 triumph of the European side.

She suggested the following terms in line with his valuable presence at that tournament: “Officiating at the World Cup is every referee’s dream, especially when you come from a country like mine where women football is still very low. I feel privileged for the opportunity.”

Above all, not only did she become the referee of the Tokyo Olympics 2021, but she also picked up the honour to become the first African woman to be the centre referee of a quarter-final match of the women football event at the

.

That is to say, along with Bernadettar Kwimbira and Mary Njoroge, she officiated the round-of-eight clash between Great Britain and Australia.

One of the other interesting

top facts about Salima Mukansanga

that is worth mentioning is her participation as a referee in the world’s highest-altitude football match on Mount Kilimanjaro for Equal Playing Field (EPF), which is an organisation focusing on addressing the inclusivity of girls in football.

It was undoubtedly a great honour for her especially when even the Guinness book of world records recognised that place as the highest area where a football game has been played.

Obstacles in Salima Mukansanga path to success

In Salima Mukansanga road to where she currently stands i.e. raising her capacity level to the required standard, there are an awful lot of challenges to be overcome especially in nations where equality between male and female gender is still unrecognized.

Apart from womens' physical barriers as the likes of repercussions stemming from their menstrual cycle and the recovering process they need after giving birth, they have to cope with sexism from players and spectators, dearth of female recruitment for the career by soccer bodies, and negative stereotypes by spectators in a male-dominated profession like football refereeing.

As one of the most inspiring

top facts about Salima Mukansanga

, it should be indicated that despite all of these hindrances what she really desires to make with her presence as a referee at AFCON

- 2021 is to set an example, sending a message to other women with high lofty goals. But also, to put on show what African women are capable of.

She stated accordingly: “We’re here not because we had a favour to be here, because we deserve to be here.”

“So, back home, we have been working very hard, because a lot [of people] say, ‘Women, they can’t run at the pace of men, the speed and whatever,  yes, we can’t be men, but we can do our best to be on the same level.

“This is an opportunity we get now to open the doors, to show that all African women are capable. They can reach this stage. We are here because we deserve it and we are capable,” as she continued.

With her scintillating presence at the 2021 Afcon in Cameroon, she would have reasonably a raft of more opportunities rushing through her path so as to make her career ever more glittering.

Salima Mukansanga social media

When it comes to

Salima Mukansanga social media

activity, it is to be said that she is active on her Facebook account.

In the 2021 AFCON, she began her mark by refereeing Guinea vs Malawi as she contributed as a fourth official on the 10th of January.

She also went on to officiate the clash between Malawi and Zimbabwe on the 14th of January of the tournament.

Most importantly on the 18th of January, she showed 6 yellow cards at the game of Zimbabwe against Guinea.

With such a great impression, The Confederation of African Football was so much touched, that it used its social media presence to approbate her for making Women and Africa proud of her.

Salima Mukansanga net worth

As far as

Salima Mukansanga net worth

is concerned, she has racked around $1million -$5 million money, while the primary source of her income is from her profession as a successful Referee.

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