The Sky is proving to be the limit indeed for Malawian assistance referee Bernadette Kwimbira following her appointment as one of the match officials for the prestigious 2016 Olympics games in Rio, Brazil later this year.
Kwimbira is among the only three African referees selected for the tournament.
The appointment comes barely a year after she officiated at the 2015 Women World Cup in Canada where she went as far as officiating in the match for third place.
She said in an interview that she is excited with the appointment and thank God for the opportunity.
“I thank God for seeing me through this refereeing career, I am happy to be among the three ladies from Africa to be part of Rio Olympics.
“Of course the Fifa World Cup is huge but it is an honour to be at the Olympics. This means that I would have officiated at all major Women Football tournaments in the world,” said Kwimbira.
This is the first time a Malawi referee will be officiating at the Olympics since veteran Bester Kalombo represented the country at the 1984 in Los Angeles, America.
“To upcoming referees I encourage them to continue working hard and should be their best,” she added.
Meanwhile FAM Executive Committee member Daud Mtanthiko has urged the referees to emulate Kwimbira’s example by performing excellently whenever assigned.
Mtanthiko was speaking at Mpira Village when he was handing over equipment to 15 referees who are on the Fifa panel of referees.
“By being on the Fifa radar you are the face of Malawi but you need to work hard and perform beyond expectations so that you get more recognition like Bernadetter is doing,” said Mtanthiko.
Malawi has five women and 10 men international referees.
