Confederation of African Football, CAF has cold-shouldered Nigerian referees ahead of the imminent Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON.
The competition will start out on the 9th of January 2021 and surprisingly enough, no Nigerian referee will take charge.
The list of officials to referee in the tournament released by CAF substantiated this.
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Still and all, Samuel Pwadutakam alone is the only Nigerian shortlisted among the assistant referees by CAF for the biennial tournament.
Meanwhile, the last time Nigerian referees were listed for the competition was the 2008 AFCON hosted by Ghana.
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CAF’s published list consists of 63 match officials: 24 referees, 31 assistant referees and eight video assistant referees across 36 countries.
Eddy Maillet, CAF Director of Refereeing 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. ”
