Bouchra Karboubi who was the center referee during Super Eagles of Nigeria group A clash against Guinea-Bissau where Jose Peserio's men ran out as eventual winners in a tightly contested 1-0 scoreline game at the 2023 AFCON in Coted'Ivoire is proud to have represented African women referee in the continental tournament.
After brilliantly taking charge of the final Group A game of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, Bouchra Karboubi made history by joining Rwanda’s Salima Mukansanga who was the woman to officiate a TotalEnergies CAF AFCON match in Cameroon three years ago, Nigeriasoccernet.com writes.
"Refereeing this match was an honor for me. During the last AFCON, I was the first woman to do VAR, I was in the final and on this AFCON, I am a central referee. It was a pride for me to represent African women and to represent refereeing in Africa", she spoke exclusively to caf online.
"When I found out, the emotion was enormous. I was happy, I'm not saying there was no stress, but the stress stops as soon as we kick off. So, it was a pride for me to represent African women in general", she added.
"The Guinea Bissau – Nigeria match was a serious challenge for me. We had to show that we are here, the first women’s referee trio. So, we had no room for error because we did our best to live up to the trust that CAF placed in us".
"It’s true that we got congratulated everywhere. We were very happy especially with the three women for being able to show that we can be there and that we can have the same competitiveness as the men. It wasn't easy but we were able to show that we can be there and that we can do it".
By Olaleye Oluwadamilola