CAF Ignores Nigerian Referees For Nations Cup

Confederation of African Football (CAF) has snubbed Nigerian referees for the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Ivory Coast next year.

Nigerian match officials have struggled to get the nod to officiate in the biggest football competition in Africa for years, and the negative trend continues at the 34th edition of the AFCON.

CAF has named 32 referees from 19 different countries with the likes of Egypt and Morocco boasting of three referees each.

Algeria, Gabon and Mauritania have two referees flying their flags in Ivory Coast.

There are also referees from Kenya, Ethiopia, DR Congo, Mali, Chad, Mauritius, Burundi, Djibouti, Lesotho, Somalia, Benin Republic, Madagascar, and Sao Tome and Principe.

Nigerian referees have continually been snubbed for Nations Cup duties. At the 2019 edition in Egypt, no Nigerian referee was selected.

Abel Baba was the only one selected for assistant refereeing duties in 2017, while Peter Edibe got the nod for center refereeing duties at the 2013 and 2015 editions.

FIFA and CAF have continued to omit Nigerian referees for international duties owing to their questionable performances in the domestic league.

The competition is set to kick off in Ivory Coast from January 13 to February 11 2024.