Referee Salima Mukansanga has written history on several occasions. Among other things, in January this year she was the first female official to officiate a game at the Africa Cup of Nations. The 34-year-old comes from Rwanda, where she officiated her first football games at an early age.
In November she will serve as a referee at the men’s soccer World Cup in Qatar. Alongside her are five other women officials in the FIFA squad. Mukansanga is considered fair and experienced. In recent years she has, among other things, officiated important games at the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France and at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
In an exclusive interview with 90min.de, the referee reported on her career, shared insights into her work and shared her opinion on the controversial VAR.
“I’ve loved refereeing since I was a kid. I got inspiration from going to matches in my hometown and watching the players on the field, but also watching the officials. Seeing them in action was a big inspiration for me. Being a referee is just something I really wanted to do and it was a motivation and drive in me. I just love it.”
“In the beginning I refereed games in the men’s local leagues and in the women’s second division. It wasn’t professional, only on site by our football association. Shortly after doing my refereeing training, I started officiating in the second national division and then also the men’s first division. It went through different levels, from local to national and international… up to the World Cup! From 2007/08 to now.”
“When I started, it was actually something new because we didn’t see female referees back then. It’s a male-dominated field. A lot of people didn’t accept what we were doing as female officials. They reluctantly said, ‘She’s good at her job.’ I had a dream in me to go far, to be a professional referee, but people didn’t accept me. However, they accepted it more day by day because of the choices I made. They felt that I made fair decisions, so they made an effort to [change their perspective]. After more time had passed, they actually started encouraging more young girls to get involved in these male domains. It was a good time for me because I knew many of the other referees and together we were able to present stronger performances.”
“The doors are open, there are many opportunities. This year the men’s World Cup is an opportunity for many young girls to see a female referee on the field for the first time. Next year’s women’s World Cup is another opportunity to build strong, Seeing female role models. Girls really need to hold on to their dreams and work hard because the doors are open. Anyone can make it there and the support out there is there.”
“I’m really happy to be at the World Cup because I’ve worked very hard for it. I can stand by my decisions in the future because I want my future to be successful. And I want young girls to me watch and follow in my footsteps because I too followed the example of others who were there.”
“FIFA gave a lot of support in this area. A lot of people didn’t believe and accepted that women should be referees in men’s games. But FIFA believed in us and that was the first step they took. By providing training, By providing seminars and other support opportunities for women officials, it gave us the opportunity to develop into professionals.”
“I have to prepare myself physically, mentally and theoretically to be ready. All of that is based on the training we get and the courses and seminars. Expectations are always high, so we always have to give everything. We have referees too a special diet, we’re almost like pro athletes ourselves! There’s a plan for every official who’s at the World Cup. We have access to an online platform, it’s the same for everyone and there we have same training – everything is equal and everything is fair.”
Because of your historical achievements as a female official, you are often in the media spotlight. Do you feel extra pressure because of that and how do you deal with that on the pitch?
“FIFA doesn’t just recruit women to give them a chance to be there. No, it’s not a chance, we’ve worked hard for it, put in a lot of effort, the training, fitness tests, etc. We’ve done the same thing, like the men and we are well prepared to work successfully at the tournament. We want the World Cup to be successful, but we want us to be successful too. Whatever people outside say, they will have to deal with the result at the end “I had a dream myself and achieved it with the help of FIFA. FIFA offers a platform that makes me here today because they have followed my career – through a precise plan, guidelines and other tools. It’s a long process and a lot of hard work, but if you have a big dream, you can make it happen.”
Is there a match of yours as a referee that you are particularly proud of?
“I feel very proud to have been the first woman to referee a match at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon. Not only am I a FIFA referee, I’m also Rwandan and African. I represent my country and my football association. But I also represent FIFA. So I have that responsibility, but I also know how to give it back in equal measure.”
What future developments do you hope for in the work of referees?
“Semi-automated offside technologies (SAOT) are now implemented at VAR. FIFA introduced VAR back in 2018. SAOT is an additional tool that helps us a lot. It’s a good opportunity for us because people can make mistakes, but with VAR we can reduce the number of mistakes. It’s a second chance to correct a mistake if one is made. But I’m very happy and appreciate what FIFA has done with these new technologies because it will be very helpful, useful and very important.”
This article was originally published on 90min.de as Exclusive Interview: Talking to FIFA Referee Salima Mukansanga.
