AFCON 2021: Nigerian referees missing as usual
Nigerian referees will as usual be missing from the forthcoming 33rd edition of the Nations Cup billed for January 9th to February 6th all things being equal.
Nigerian referees have become regular absentees at the continental fiesta even with referees and assistants from countries hitherto dubbed minnows in football hitting the list with ease. A look at the list released by CAF ahead of the championship indicate that no Nigerian referee will hold the whistle at the centre of all the matches that will be played in the course of the tournament.
Records show that no Nigerian referee has been listed at the centre in the last 13 years dating back to 2008 when Ghana hosted the nations Cup.
Nigeria’s Samuel Pwadutakam however managed to make it into the assistant refs list for the Cameroon showdown.
CAF recently released the list of 63 match officials who will officiate at the near month-long event
The list consists of 24 referees, 31 assistant referees and eight video assistant referees from 36 countries.
The tournament will kick off on Sunday, 09 January 2022 with the match between hosts, Cameroon and Burkina Faso at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde.
CAF Director of Refereeing Eddy Maillet said: “The match officials were selected based on their experience, skills and current form. In recent months, they have been subjected to several aptitude tests through preparation courses and real competitive matches.
Only the best will officiate at this extraordinary event. The roster includes two referees from the CONCACAF as part of our inter-confederation skills exchange program.”
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Woman quartet, Salima Mukasanga (Rwanda), Carine Atemzabong (Cameroon), Fatiha Jermoumi (Morocco) and Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco) continue the path started at the U-17 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations 2019 and TotalEnergies African Nations Championship 2020 (CHAN), with women referees officiating games.
All the selected match officials will complete their final preparations in Cameroon the week before the opening game. They will be closely monitored before and during the competition by a team of technical specialists and instructors.