Menzi Magubane
Meet a courageous young man in the world of football: Raphael Mbotela of Zambia is the world’s youngest professional referee in football history.
I think the 17-year-old is brave because being a referee anywhere in the world, let alone in Africa, is no child’s play. Referees are often bullied by players, team officials and football supporters. Older colleagues in the continent often find themselves in all sorts of trouble and many referees are roped into match-fixing scandals.
Mbotela got an invite to become one of the match officials in the COSAFA under-17 region 5 Youth tournament in Lesotho. His name was all over social media on Monday when he officiated his first official match in the semi-finals involving Botswana and Namibia girls’ teams.
He has already been recognised by CAF, which means he has more big matches ahead of him – provided of course that he does not fall prey to the types of scandals that African referees often find themselves involved in.
After his first match, Mbotela quickly set his sights on officiating on the bigger stage.
“I’m very happy. There are very few people who can officiate matches like I am doing at my age,” he said.
The teenager said he manages the heavy workload of schoolwork and officiating.
“When I’m in school, I concentrate on school and when I’m officiating matches, I think only about football.”
COSAFA referees manager Felix Tangawarima praised Mbotela’s impressive first match.
“I’m extremely happy with the performance of this young boy,” he said.
“He did everything right. We had him for five days in the pre-tournament course. We will assign an instructor in Zambia to continue developing him.”
He urged other national associations to identify and develop their youngsters as well.
Africa’s history of developing referees isn’t usually this impressive. We often see referees being introduced in the game in their late 20s, older than the average age at which European refs enter the game.
Having a 17-year-old as a professional referee is a shock to many but a good move for the Zambian Football Association. Let’s hope other countries follow and develop more young referees.
Image source: @FazFootball
