FIFA referee Diana Chikotesha has hailed President Hakainde Hichilema for rewarding her with the President’s Insignia of Honour at this year’s Independence Day celebrations.
Chikotesha was honoured for having flown the Zambian flag high in football refereeing, having represented the country diligently at various tournaments around the world.
In an exclusive interview with Goal Diggers, Chikotesha said she was humbled to receive the President’s Insignia of Honour, which would inspire her to work extra hard to achieve what she had not been able to achieve in her career.
“The presidential insignia award means a lot to me. I’m thrilled and extremely humbled by the gesture from His Excellency Mr Hakainde Hichilema for the recognition. This award means that whatsoever you are doing and whatever impact you are making in the society, people are seeing and definitely the right time will come, it might be late but it will come when people will say okay we have seen her and it’s high time we recognise her efforts. It has taken me many years. Of course I never thought of receiving such an award from the highest office of the land but receiving it from him is something which makes me be aware of what I’m doing, checking myself, am I doing the right thing bringing forth any positive impact in our society so it will push me further to work extra hard and achieve what I have not achieved,” said Chikotesha.
“It will also inspire a woman out there who thinks she cannot dominate in any sport. It might not just be in refereeing in football but in any other physical or sporting activity so generally this award means everything to me”.
Chikotesha encouraged athletes especially women in sports to be focused and determined to achieve great success.
The 36 year old lady, who was born and raised in Petauke, Eastern Province, has been Zambia’s greatest ambassador at international football tournaments since she was promoted to the highest ranking refereeing levels in Africa in 2018.
In 2020, Chikotesha officiated at the Maurice Revello Men’s Under 20 World Cup in France and in 2021, she officiated at the Women’s Under-20 World Cup in Costa Rica.
The Zambian pride further went on to officiate the Women’s 2022 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco and later officiated at the 2022 men’s African Nation’s Championship in Algeria.
In 2023, Chikotesha officiated at the Women’s Championship in Ivory Coast and in the same year, she officiated at the men’s championship finals as a video assistant referee (VAR) in Morocco.
This year, one of her dreams came true as she was nominated to officiate at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Apart from being an outstanding referee, Chikotesha also has masters degrees in physical education (PE) and sports management from the University of Zambia (UNZA) and Rockview University, respectively.
