The world football governing body FIFA has released the list of match officials ahead of the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand in July.
The list contains 107 officials from around the world, including 33 referees and support referees, 55 assistant referees, and 19 video match officials.
Although there are no Nigerian officials selected for the competition, a total of twelve officials were chosen from the continent of Africa.
FIFA released the list of officials in a post on their official website earlier today, highlighting the criteria for selection.
Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, Pierluigi Collina, reiterated the governing body’s commitment to ensuring quality officiating in all its competitions.
“As always, the criteria we have used is ‘quality first’ and the selected on-field match officials represent the highest level of refereeing worldwide,” Collina said.
“We all remember the very successful FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 in France. The high standard of refereeing contributed significantly to that success. The aim for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 is to repeat that success and to convince again with excellent referees’ performances,” he added.
Togolese referee Amedome Vincentia, Moroccan Karboubi Bouchra, 34-year-old South African Makalima Akhona, and Salima Mukansanga, who made history by officiating at the FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar, were all selected as lead officials.
Seven Africans made the list as assistant referees, while only one was selected as a video assistant official.
The ninth edition of the FIFA senior women’s tournament will run from July 20 until August 20 and feature 32 teams, including Nigeria’s Super Falcons, Morocco, South Africa, and Zambia as Africa’s representatives.
FULL LIST OF SELECTED AFRICAN OFFICIALS
Referees: Amedome Vincentia (Togo), Karboubi Bouchra (Morocco), Makalima Akhona (South Africa), and Salima Mukansanga (Rwanda).
Assistant referees: Atezambong Fomo Carine (Cameroon), Diana Chikotesha (Zambia), Hamdi Soukaina (Morocco), Fatiha Jermoumi (Morocco), Fanta Kone (Mali), Mary Njoroge (Kenya), and Queency Victoire (Mauritius).
Video match officials: Adil Zourak (Morocco)
