Moroccan Trailblazer: Policewoman Becomes First Female Elite Soccer Referee

Born in Taza, Bouchra is the youngest of five siblings. She has football in her blood. A passion she will develop very early on. As a teenager, she and her friends played on makeshift pitches. She later became interested in the profession of football referee. A refereeing school for men and women had just opened its doors in her city in 2001. "I loved football, but I said to myself: why not? It allowed me not to give up my passion, to learn the rules of the game..." she confides to Ouest France.

This choice is not accepted by everyone. "How many beatings I received from my brothers! They wouldn’t let me go to the field. For them, football was a sport reserved for men, where insults abound, etc. Then in Taza, going out in shorts to referee when you’re a girl, that was hchouma (shameful)..." the young referee recounts. With the help of her mother and neighbor, she uses subterfuges to escape the fury of her brothers. "Once my brothers discovered a flag in my bag and tore it up. I went crying on the field, with a needle in hand, sewing it back up in a hurry," she recalls.

2007, a new era opens up. There is now a national women’s championship in Morocco. Becoming a national referee, the young woman leaves her hometown for Meknes. "My family understood that it was serious and professional for me. One day my father came to see me train in Meknes. That’s when he ordered my brothers to respect my choice," says Bouchra. She is present on the pitches to referee in the first and second women’s divisions. In 2014, the young referee’s luck smiled on her. She passed a physical test to whistle men’s matches. "As soon as I was selected, I entered another universe, much more structured, with a sports coach made available to me by the federation."

In parallel, Bouchra Karboubi is a police inspector. "a dream since I was little". The General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) allows her to work as a referee. "As soon as I take off the uniform, I rush to the field to train, a real breath of fresh air." In 2016, she moved up a notch: she became an international referee. Mother of a 3-year-old daughter, Dina, she continues to pursue her dreams. She is in the running to referee the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and participate in the CHAN in Africa.