When talking about people representing Uganda at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France, many only recognize athletes who are competing for medals, but Uganda is also being represented off the track by Shamirah Nabadda.
The Ugandan female referee was the fourth official on Wednesday as Iraq edged Ukraine 2-1 in the opening match of Group B at the 2024 Olympic Games. During the game, she was responsible for supervising substitution procedures, checking players’ and substitutes’ equipment, indicating the minimum additional time, and informing the referee of any irresponsible behaviour by any technical area occupant.
Nabadda is among the 89 match officials (21 referees, 42 assistant referees, 20 video match officials, and six support referees) from 45 countries who are officiating at the Olympic Football Tournaments Paris 2024.
She is one of the four female match officials from Africa. The others are Bouchra Karboubi and Jermoumi Fatiha (both from Morocco), and Diana Chikotesha from Zambia.
Who is Shamirah Nabadda?
Nabadda burst into the spotlight in 2018 when she was given the mandate to referee the crucial game between title-chasing KCCA FC and relegation-threatened Masavu FC in Entebbe. She became the youngest-ever female center referee to officiate a top-flight match in Ugandan football at the age of 23.
Since then, Nabadda has been on an upward trajectory, officiating several top-flight league games before being selected to officiate at the 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations and last year’s CAF Women’s Champions League.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism, which she attained from Bishop Stuart University. Before becoming a referee, Nabadda tried pursuing a career in football as a player. This all started during her school days at Masaka S.S., where she was part of the school football team.
“I simply played football to enjoy myself. Nothing else. However, I was also very keen about the rules of the game, and this used to baffle my teammates who thought I had a lot of kajanja [curiosity] regarding football rules,” Nabadda was quoted during one of her interviews.
She later joined Western United in the top-flight women’s league (FWEL). However, in 2015, she was recommended by former FUFA delegate for Mbarara, who was also a close friend of her family, Abbas Sendyowa (RIP), to attend a refereeing course at the FUFA technical center in Njeru.
While continuing to play for Western United, Nabadda started officiating at low-tier football tournaments.
By 2016, Nabadda had gained acceptance and found her footing in the sport. That is how she ended up officiating at the Copa Coca-Cola schools tournament plus in the top-flight women’s league, and as they say, the rest is history.
