Former national footballer Joya Chakma has officially been recognized by world’s football governing body as the first female Fifa referee from Bangladesh after three months of wait since passing the required test.
Bangladesh Football Federation received Joya’s official approval letter from Fifa on December 5 after she passed the refereeing test at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka on August 23.
The results of the exams were sent to Fifa at the end of September.
The test reports of assistant referee Salma Islam Moni were also sent to Fifa at the same time, but the request was not approved due to age limitation as the minimum requirement to become Fifa referee is 23.
Former #women’s #footballer #JoyaChakma is set to become the first #Bangladeshi #female international football referee while #SalmaIslam is set to become an assistant referee. They have cleared the @FIFAcom fitness tests and are waiting to hear from the internal #football body. pic.twitter.com/sGqjFEbta7
— Nurunnaby Chowdhury (@nhasive) August 24, 2019
“I was waiting for this news. All my hard-work paid off. I’m now more confident. The responsibility is also more now. I have to keep myself fit for next one year and do my responsibility properly,” said a happy Joya, who will officiate international matches until her next exam in September, 2020.
Joya, hailing from Rangamati, was still a national player when she stepped into the refereeing arena nine years ago.
Since then, she completed Level 1, 2, 3 courses to become the national referee.
She has been a BKSP coach since 2016, and guided their U-17 women’s football team to the Subrata Cup title in India twice in a row.
