\u201cThe most important thing is not winning but taking part,\u201d said Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the Olympic Games, in a 1908 speech extolling the values of Olympism. Admittedly, this principle will probably not be the primary motivating factor for Zambia\u2019s women\u2019s national football team as they target medal at Paris 2024. As far as their compatriot Diana Chikotesha is concerned, however, the quotation likely has a particular resonance.<\/p>\n
Why? Because the respected Zambian referee is one of 89 match officials \u2013 \u06f2\u06f1 referees, 42 assistant referees, 20 video match officials and six support referees \u2013 appointed by the FIFA Referees Committee to the Olympic Football Tournaments this summer. The list features 45 different nationalities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was one of my goals to work at this event one day \u2013 I was really happy to see my name on the list,\u201d Chikotesha told Inside FIFA. \u201cI’m very touched to be asked. It’s an extremely competitive tournament, as all the best teams in the world take part. It’s very entertaining and definitely worth watching and following, but most importantly, it will give me the chance to learn even more.\u201d<\/p>\n
The appointment is richly deserved: it rewards the excellent performances of a rising star who recently received the COSAFA Best Female Referee Award, a few months after making history by becoming the first woman to officiate at the final of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations. And her achievement clearly struck a chord with the Zambian public, who turned up in large numbers to enthusiastically cheer her return at Lusaka airport.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing part of that final and creating a little bit of history was an incredible thing for me; I\u2019ll never forget it,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it\u2019s also a valuable lesson: every woman, especially those involved in the Olympic Games, needs to convince herself that her gender cannot and should not be a determining factor in a successful career, and in life generally.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 35-year-old is currently scaling the heights of the refereeing world, an ascent she puts down to self-sacrifice, hard work and passion. \u201cI\u2019ve loved watching and playing football since I was a little girl,\u201d she explained. \u201cIn 2009, I decided to join a refereeing team and become a match official. I don\u2019t regret that choice at all!\u201d<\/p>\n
Fifteen years later, having made her way up the ladder to the upper echelons of the game, she has now been invited to run the line at one of football\u2019s most illustrious competitions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the run-up to major tournaments like this one, I feel more anxiety and eagerness than pressure,\u201d Chikotesha noted. \u201cYou have to approach these events with optimism, a positive outlook, and a desire to learn something from each match. I’ll prepare accordingly. The stakes are huge for the fans, the players, the sponsors and all the stakeholders. We have to rise to the occasion and meet their expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to her historic Africa Cup of Nations outing, Chikotesha also took part in the FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023\u2122, during which she gained a substantial amount of experience. With these adventures now under her belt, she has decided to not put any limits on her aspirations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of massive events, the Olympics were the only competition missing from my refereeing CV,\u201d she said. \u201cAfterwards, I\u2019ll be able to say that I\u2019ve lived out nearly all of my dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cBut I\u2019d also love to plant a seed in someone\u2019s mind \u2013 to possibly find a young girl who\u2019s interested in refereeing but who has no-one to chat to about it, no-one to steer her in the right direction, no-one to motivate her. I\u2019d really like to share the knowledge and experience I\u2019ve built up through working with FIFA and CAF.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because, when it comes down to it, refereeing is also about team spirit: after all, the official Olympic Games motto reads \u201cFaster, higher, stronger \u2013 together\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cThe most important thing is not winning but taking part,\u201d said Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the Olympic Games, in a 1908 speech extolling the values of Olympism. Admittedly, this principle will probably not be the primary motivating factor for Zambia\u2019s women\u2019s national football team as they target medal at Paris 2024. As far […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1008829,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20966],"tags":[9648,27192],"class_list":["post-1008828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fifa-news","tag-fifa","tag-fifa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1008828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1008828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1008828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1008829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1008828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1008828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1008828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}