Mukansanga Salima, who made history in the profession of football refereeing, has announced her retirement after 12 years as an international referee.
This referee made these statements to B&B Kigali FM on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, where she mentioned that it was a personal decision and that she is unaware of what others might be saying.
This comes after a period during which the referee had not been officiating matches, either in the Rwandan Premier League or in international competitions.
Mukansanga Salima began her refereeing career officially under the Rwanda Football Federation (FERWAFA) in 2007.
In 2012, she was appointed as an international referee and began officiating international matches as a fourth official. Two years later, she refereed her first match on the field when the Zambian national team played against Tanzania in 2014 during the qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations.
She continued to perform well, gaining widespread recognition in her professional refereeing journey in 2022. During that time, she made history as the first woman to officiate at the Men’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) held in Cameroon and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
On May 19, 2022, she was announced as one of three female referees selected to officiate at the FIFA World Cup, alongside Stéphanie Frappart and Japanese referee Yoshimi Yamashita.
In January of last year, Mukansanga was chosen as one of the referees for the Women’s World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand. She was also part of the referees managing the VAR during the Africa Cup of Nations that took place in January.
