Bouchra Karboubi, the Moroccan referee, expressed her utmost goal on the football field, emphasizing the application of justice as a law enforcement officer.
In an interview with BBC, the “stadium judge” stated, “Being a policewoman means applying justice to me.
As a referee, I am the one who enforces the law on the field, and this is my passion.”
Karboubi underscored the interconnectedness of refereeing and law enforcement, stating, “I believe that refereeing and the police are linked to each other.”
The 36-year-old Moroccan continued, “True, I am a police officer, and on the field, I am a referee, but at home, I am a mother to a daughter.”
She added, “Refereeing has helped me a lot to be a good police officer, and being a police officer has helped me develop a strong personality on the field as a referee.”
Discussing the challenges faced by female referees, Karboubi remarked, “Physically, we need to possess the technical experience that men naturally have because if a male referee makes mistakes, they say he’s just human.
However, women face more criticism because they are female.”
Karboubi made history as the first woman to officiate as the head referee in the 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations held in Ivory Coast.
She presided over the match between Guinea-Bissau and Nigeria in the group stage, becoming the second woman to officiate in the tournament’s history after Rwandan Salima Mukansanga (Africa Cup of Nations 2021).
Notably, Karboubi is the first Arab woman to officiate a match in the African Men’s Cup of Nations finals, describing her participation as “a tremendous honor for me, my family, my country, and African women in general.”
In addition to being the first Arab woman to referee a men’s match in 2020, Karboubi is also the first African woman to oversee the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), serving as an assistant VAR in the final of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
It is worth noting that Moroccan referee Bouchra Karboubi led her first international women’s football match in 2018 during the Africa Women Cup of Nations in Ghana.
