Moroccan Trailblazer: First Arab Woman Referee Makes History at Africa Cup of Nations

Bouchra Karboubi became a referee against all odds. The youngest of five children, she grew up with her four brothers in Taza, a conservative city in northeastern Morocco. At the time, it was generally considered shameful for a girl to go out in shorts to referee on the same field as men. This perception of society did not dampen the teenager’s dream of becoming a football referee. Her brothers did everything to block her way, but Bouchra resisted. They did not want her to attend the refereeing school that had just opened in Taza in 2001. "But I said to myself: I love football, why shouldn’t I try? Even against the will of my brothers" and the famous "Hchouma", she confides to DW. To express their displeasure, her brothers tore the flag of her linesman. An act that was far from discouraging the 14-year-old girl. She simply grabbed a needle and thread and sewed the flag back - before drawing the line in her next match.

In 2007, she headed to Meknes. There, she studies business administration. At the same time, Karboubi is already officiating matches in the first and second divisions of the women’s league in the kingdom.

The year 2014 marks a new turning point in her refereeing career. She passes the physical test required by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) to referee men’s matches. She starts by refereeing lower-level men’s matches, before being called up for international matches on the African continent in 2016. The experiences follow one another. In 2018, Karboubi gained her first major international experience by officiating a match in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana. Two years later, Krarboubi, who has in the meantime become a policewoman, was allowed to referee a match between Maghreb de Tétouan and Olympique de Kourighba, her first in the best Moroccan men’s league. In 2022, she became the first woman to referee the final of the Moroccan Men’s Cup. A breakthrough for the female football referee.

2024: consecration. The 36-year-old Moroccan referee Bouchra Karboubi made history as the first Arab woman and second African woman after Rwandan Salima Mukansanga to hold the whistle in an Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final. She is among the female referees selected for the 34th edition of the continental tournament. As the center referee, she is assisted by Salima Mukansanga of Rwanda, Akhona Makalima of South Africa, Bivet Maria Cinquela of Mauritius and Diana Chikotesha of Zambia. The Moroccan refereed the match between Nigeria and Guinea-Bissau in the 3rd round of Group A with mastery. "Refereeing this match was an honor for me, the emotion was huge to be the referee of the match for the first time. During the last AFCON, I was the first woman to do the VAR, I was in the final and in this AFCON, I am the center referee, it was a pride for me to represent the African woman and to represent African refereeing," she told Cafonline.

She continued: "The Guinea Bissau - Nigeria match was a challenge for me. We had to show that we are there, the first all-female refereeing trio. So we couldn’t make a mistake because we did our best to live up to the trust that our commission placed in us. [...] It’s true that we received congratulations everywhere, we were very happy especially the three women to have been 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." But the AFCON is far from her ultimate goal. "Refereeing a men’s World Cup match one day, that’s my ultimate goal," she says.