Kenya's Mary Njoroge among referees for Portugal-Vietnam World Cup match
Kenyan referee Mary Njoroge in training on July 4, 2023 at Kenyatta University. Njoroge will officiate in the Fifa's Women World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
What you need to know:
- Njoroge is the only Kenyan referee in the 2023 World Cup. She will be the second assistant referee in the match where Rwandan Salima Mukansanga will be the centre referee.
- Mauritian Victoire Queency and Uruguayan Anahi Fernandez will be first assistant referee and fourth officials respectively.
Fifa-accredited referee Mary Njoroge will be one of the officials in the Women's World Cup Group E match between Portugal and Vietnam at Waikato Stadium, Hamilton in New Zealand on Thursday.
Njoroge is the only Kenyan referee in the 2023 World Cup. She will be the second assistant referee in the match where Rwandan Salima Mukansanga will be the centre referee.
Mauritian Victoire Queency and Uruguayan Anahi Fernandez will be first assistant referee and fourth officials respectively.
Njoroge, 38, was also an assistant referee at the 2018 France U-20 World Cup, the 2019 Women's World Cup and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The Kenyan left the country on July 7 for Australia after she was flagged off by the Australian Deputy High Commissioner Linda Gellard at Kenyatta University.
In the first match of the group stages, Portugal lost 1-0 to the Netherlands as Vietnam fell 3-0 to defending champions United States of America.
The United States top Group E with three points, same as The Netherlands who are second but with an inferior goal difference. Portugal and Vietnam follow in third and fourth place respectively with no points.
Fifa had appointed 19 video assistant referees (VARs) for the first time in the Women's World Cup with six of them being female. Adil Zourak from Morocco is the only male representative from Africa.
A total of 33 referees and 55 assistants were selected from six confederations. Africa only had four centre referees. Vincentia Amedome (Togo), Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco), Akhona Makalima (South Africa) and Mukansanga.
Other African assistant referees include Carine Atezambong Fomo (Cameroon), Diana Chikotesha (Zambia), Soukaina Hamdi (Morocco), Fatiha Jermoumi (Morocco), Fanta Kone (Mali) and Queency Victoire (Mauritius).
This is the first time 32 teams are participating in the tournament, up from 24.
The opening match was contested between New Zealand and Norway at Eden Park in Auckland on July 20 where the hosts registered an historic 1-0 win.
The final will take place on August 20 at Sydney Olympic Stadium in Sydney.
