The Bahrain Football Association’s (BFA) women’s football manager Rehab Al Malki made history yesterday by becoming the first woman to officiate as a ‘monitor’ in a major football game in the kingdom, writes Adnan Sipra.
“A monitor is different from the match referee,” she told GDN in an exclusive interview, just hours before the final of the prestigious King Cup which featured East Riffa and Al Khaldiya.
“A match referee is only responsible for the game itself, once he or she blows the starting whistle,” she explained.
“A monitor, meanwhile, is responsible for everything related to the match: from organising it, handling the logistics, making sure everything in the stadium is up to speed, ensuring that the players have everything they need and so on.”
A former local league player herself, Al Malki modestly downplayed the fact that she was now going to be an important part of football history in Bahrain.
“Honestly, I haven’t thought much about it,” she laughed. “It’s nice to be told that but I have my hands full with everything that needs to be taken care of. It might sink in later, after the match, though.”
Becoming a football match monitor requires courses to be taken and proper accreditation to be done by the BFA, Al Malki said.
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