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Female Moroccan referee, Bouchra Karboubi doubles as a police officer and an international match official.
Karboubi enforces law back in her country, but uses her whistle and cards to maintain order on the field of play.
She is an international football referee and a policewoman in Meknes, a city in northern Morocco.
“Being a policewoman for me, means applying justice,” she told Sport Africa in Cote D’Ivoire.
“As a referee, it’s me who applies the law and it’s a win-win because it’s a job and it’s my passion and they are linked to each other.”
Karboubi is the only referee out of the six female match officials at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.
The Morroccan has followed the footsteps of Salima Mukansanga of Rwanda who made history in 2022 by becoming the first woman to referee a men’s Afcon match in Cameroon.
History beckoned when she became the second woman to officiate in the men’s game by leading all-female team of officials in the match Nigeria vs Guinea Bissau at the ongoing AFCON 2023 currently holding in Cote D’Ivoire.
The Moroccan’s central role in the ongoing tournament makes her the first North African woman to referee at a men’s Afcon.
“The emotions were enormous. It is an honour for me, for my family, for my country and for African women in general,” she says about her participation.
The 36-year-old, however, adds there is more to her identity than her two jobs.
“It’s true that at work I’m a police officer and on the field I’m a referee. But at home, I am a woman, I am the woman of the house and the mother of a daughter.”
