Shamirah Nabadda appointed as referee for Paris Olympics
OLYMPICS | Shamirah Nabadda has joined a group of match officials who will officiate the Olympic football tournament at the Paris 2024 Games.
This includes 21 referees, 42 assistant referees, 20 video officials and six support referees from 45 countries. Of the 89 appointed officials, ten of them are from Africa.
This pivotal appointment could open doors to bigger stages. FIFA eyes these officials for roles in World Cup 2026 and the Women's World Cup 2027.
“While the Olympic Football Tournament Paris 2024 are this year’s flagship football competitions, for the selected match officials they represent the next important step on the road to the FIFA World Cup 26 and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027,” said FIFA in a statement.
This year, FIFA has prepared extensive support for the match officials. The federation provides technical trainers, such as video assistant referee (VAR) instructors.
Despite past controversies, these technologies are placed to help referees make more accurate decisions.
Nabadda (second-right) and her team of officials during the 2022 Womens Afcon in Rabat, Morocco, on July 9, 2022
Other facilities provided by FIFA for the event include match analysis services, fitness coaches, physiotherapists, and sports scientists.
Nabadda’s career.
With this appointment, Nabadda officially becomes the first female Ugandan referee to officiate in the Olympic Games. She will serve as a support referee among three other female match officials from Africa.
The other three are Bouchra Karboubi and Fatiha Jermoumi from Morocco, along with Diana Chikotesha from Zambia.
She is also the second Ugandan referee to officiate at the Olympics. The first was Ali Tomusange in Sydney, Australia, when he supervised the 2000 Olympics.
Nabadda is also a part of the four referees FIFA has appointed from the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA). Joining her on the roster are Ismail Mohmood Ali from Sudan, Ahmed Liban Abdoulrazak from Djibouti, and Stephen Yiembe from Kenya.
“We are very happy and proud to have our referees selected for the Paris Olympics,” said Ali Ahmed, the head of referee at CECAFA.
Prior to this Olympic appointment, Nabadda had already made her mark officiating African football.
In 2016, the Ugandan referee earned her Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) before donning the FIFA badge two years later.
At just 23 years old, she became the referee of the KCCA FC and Masavu FC match in Entebbe. She continued to become a match official in high-level competitions, such as the 2023 and 2022 Women’s AFCON finals.
Nabadda then went on to officiate two of the African Women’s Champion League (CAF WCL) editions.
The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics football match
Nabadda books Zambia's Evarine Katongo during the 2022 Women's Afcon game between Zambia and Togo at Stade Prince Moulay Al Hassan in Ra.jpg
The Summer Olympic Games 2024 are lighting up screens of sporting fans worldwide from July 26 to August 11. The is scheduled to be held from July 26 to August 11, 2024.
The global tournament will feature 32 sporting disciplines.
The women's competition is slated to begin on July 25, with the gold medal football match scheduled for August 10 at Parc des Princes in Paris.
The final four for Africa's women's football Olympic spots are set: Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zambia. Qualifier highlights include Nigeria's 1-0 win over Cameroon and South Africa's 4-0 triumph against Tanzania.
Meanwhile, Zambia's 3-3 draw advanced to a 4-3 aggregate against Ghana. Morocco cinched the last spot with a 4-1 victory over Tunisia.
In the men’s category, Egypt, Mali, and Morocco are set to represent Africa.
The men’s tournament is set to start a day earlier on July 24. The gold medal match is scheduled for August 9 at the same venue as the women’s tournament.
