Mercy Tagoe-Quarcoo has revealed she enjoyed her time as a referee more than any other activity she was involved in.

Tagoe served as an official referee between 2005, when she gained her FIFA badge and 2013 and officiated games in the Ghana Premier League between the said period.

She was also one of the referees called up for the 2010 FIFA Women’s World Cup which was staged in Germany.

Before being diverting into a referee, the 45-year-old played football, featuring for Ghana’s women’s national team.

She also became a coach after ending her career as a referee but Tagoe-Quarcoo says there is no sport she enjoyed other than officiating.

“Of all those sports I participated in, refereeing was the best event I really enjoyed. Even though there were hitches with came with hullabaloo, I could sit and read the laws of the game for close to five hours,” she said on Joy Sports’ Prime Take.

“Refereeing is an art. When women learn something and we are doing it, we do it systematically, we do it in a way that people will look at you and ask questions. Even the way we dress to officiate games is one of a kind.

“I learnt it when I went to Portugal for a FIFA refereeing programme. When you take to the field, every eye is looking at you as a referee, make sure you know your stuff, and understand what you doing; you need to interpret the laws of the game on the pitch. You are a judge and should take decisions within a split second.

“But, remember that people have spent so much to prepare their teams for the game and everyone is coming with the mentality of winning the game if you are not able to take the right decisions, it will affect you. It is not your association, it's affecting you the individual. You are trained as a group, but when you are selected for a game, no one even looks at your assistants, it's you in the middle. You are human and will make mistakes, but they should be minimal.”

Tagoe-Quarcoo was earlier this year, replaced by Nora Hauptle as the head coach of the Black Queens having been in charge of the team in the last three years.

The full interview with the former Black Queens player airs on Sunday, June 18, at 21:00 GMT.