Ref Kwimbira passes fitness test ahead of Chan
Malawian elite female referee Bernadettar Kwimbira Nzika has passed the referees fitness test in Rabat, Morocco where she is taking part in a five day Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Course in preparation for the 2020 African Nations Championship to be hosted by Cameroon in next month.
She did not participate in the fitness tests that her fellow Malawian referees did last month back home as she was set to be tested in Morocco.
Kwimbira-Mzika is among the three female referees, alongside Ethiopian referee Abebe Lybia Tafesse and Nigerian Assistant Referee Mimisen Iyorhe, out of 41 referees who are taking part in the VAR course.
The course is aimed at preparing the referees and assistant referees for the 2020 CHAN Competition as well as the 2020 African Nations Championship to be hosted by Cameroon in April.
In November last year, Kwimbira was among the first six African Female Elite referees to officiate men’s AFCON matches when she and three Malawian male referees officiated a 2021 AFCON qualifier between Libya and Tanzania in Tripoli.
She again emerged the overall best among the list of 33 Referees at a CAF Elite ‘A’ Women Referees Course in Djibouti.
The course brought together top African female referees from 24 CAF member Associations.
And in 2013, Kwimbira also emerged the best performer at a joint Elite Men and Women Referees Course in Cairo, Egypt.
She is Malawi’s most decorated referee having officiated at two FIFA Women’s World Cups, five Women’s AFCONS, One Olympics, One Youth Olympics and FIFA Women’s Under 20 World Cup among other high-profile assignments.
