Zimbabwean referee Raymond Mashamba, 30, knew from the time he was 14-years-old that he was gay but managed to keep his sexuality a secret because of societal attitudes about homosexuality. To conform with expectations and ensure there would be no suspicion, Mashamba even had a girlfriend introduced to him by his uncle who eventually fell pregnant. But Mashamba’s life was to change dramatically after he met the man who would later become his boyfriend. He was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the officials to travel to the United Kingdom with a local soccer team – Matebeleland Football Confederacy for the Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) World Cup in September 2017.