SA referee Gomes to call the shots in blockbuster final

South Africa’s Victor Gomes will take charge of the Africa Cup of Nations final between Senegal and Egypt at Yaounde-Stade Olembe in Cameroon on Sunday.

Fellow South African Zakhele Siwela will assist Gomes along with Lesotho’s Souru Phatsoane and DRC’s Olivier Safari Kabene.

The highly respected Gomes becomes the first South African to ever officiate in an AFCON final.

Senegal overcame Burkina Faso 3-1, while Egypt won 3-1 in a penalty shoot-out after a goalless draw in Yaounde.

Egypt, led by Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, are looking to win their eighth AFCON title and first win since 2010 in Angola.

A PSL referee since 2008, Gomes was voted PSL Referee of the Season in 2012–13 and 2017–18 and has been an international referee since 2011.

In 2018, he was hailed by the South African Football Association after he rejected and reported an attempted bribe of over R300 000. Gomes had been approached and offered the sum of money to fix a CAF Confederation Cup match between Nigerian side Plateau United and Algerian side USM Alger.

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He was again nominated for the PSL Referee of the Season award upon the conclusion of the domestic campaign. Gomes who has been very active on the job it will be recalled handled the tie between Ivory Coast and Algeria in Douala.

The final will see Senegal who are seeking to lift the title for the first time square up against regualar customers Egypt who have won a record seven times and in search of the eight trophy.

Senegal played in the final of the 2019 edition in Egypt losing by a lone goal to eventual winners Algeria who incidentally crashed out in the first round in Cameroon.