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Innocent Kurira
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ZIMBABWE female rugby referee, Precious Pazani is set to achieve yet another officiating feat in her career after she was announced as one of the officials that will take charge in two upcoming global events.

The 32-year-old Pazani  was named in  the referees’ panel for both the World Rugby Under-20s Championship and Under-20s Trophy. The World Championships will start on June 24 in South Africa while the Trophy kicks off in Kenya on July 15.

In Kenya for the Under-20s Trophy tournament, Pazani, alongside Kat Roche from the United States of America (USA) will become the first female officials to referee at the prestigious event. Prior to Pazani and Roche’s history-making milestone, Hollie Davidson from Scotland will become the first female official to referee at the Under-20 Championship.

The 12-team Under-20 Championship will run until July 14, while the U20 Trophy, featuring eight teams, will end on July 30. The U20s Championship will be using the Smartball and the Television Match Official (TMO) Bunker system for the first time. Matteo Liperini (Italy), Ben Blain (Scotland), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa) will be the TMOs operating in South Africa.

Precious Pazani

The Smartball technology, which is a collaboration between Sportable and Gilbert (match ball manufacturers), works by tracking the ball in 3D and real-time, with beacons positioned around the pitch to determine the ball’s exact position up to 20 times per second.

A direct feed will be made available to the television match official, who will be able to use the information to provide real-time feedback to the referee in the five areas which are, throw forward, touch location, touched in flight, ball over try line and lineout throws.

The TMO Bunker will be used to help reduce lengthy stoppages and promote accurate decision-making for foul play. It will also be used to review possibly foul play red cards by allowing a yellow card awarded on-field to be upgraded to a red card during the 10-minute sin bin window.

In April, Pazani officiated at the World Rugby Challenger Series in South Africa. Pazani has also previously officiated at the Dubai Invitational Sevens and the Cape Town Sevens at the end of 2022.

Precious Pazani

It was at the Cape Town Sevens where she became the first-ever Zimbabwean referee to handle a World Rugby Sevens Series match. She was the referee for the match between Brazil and Japan before she blew the whistle when Canada faced Fiji.

In March, the 32-year-old was an assistant referee in the TikTok Women’s Six Nations. She was an assistant referee when England faced Scotland on the competition’s opening day. Last year, she became the first Zimbabwean rugby referee to officiate at the World Cup after her participation in the Rugby World Cup Sevens, which was held in Cape Town, South Africa. – @ innocentskizoe