LAHORE: Saman Zulfiqar, Pakistan’s first female match referee, says she wants to supervise international matches and hopes the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will give her that opportunity.
The PCB recently announced the officials for the domestic cricket season 2020-21. Saman is the only female match referee in the development panel. She is from Sheikhupura and is the mother of a 9-month-old daughter.
“I want to supervise Pakistan Super League and international matches as well after supervising as many matches as possible at the national level,” she told ‘The News’.
Saman said that she played cricket during her education. She has a Master’s degree in Sports Sciences. After that, she did an umpiring course to be associated with cricket. “Then I did a match refereeing course. After that I took up the field, I found this field is better for me to showcase my abilities,” she added.
“I got a lot of support from my family. I was allowed to work after I completed my education and then after marriage my in-laws did not stop me from working,” she said.
“I consider myself lucky that I am getting so much support from everyone that it is not only easy for me to continue working but also easy to move forward.
“I am very happy to be the first female match referee in Pakistan. I would like to tell girls that the PCB is providing a lot of opportunities so they should join the field,” she said.
