The 37-year-old is well respected across the continent for officiating big clashes. He will take charge of Sunday’s CAF Champions League final, second leg clash between Zamalek of Egypt and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa, taking place in Alexandria before the tie.
The clash slated for the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium on Saturday, 12th November, will also see Jean-Claude Birumushahu from Burundi as assistant referee 1, Marwa Range from Kenya as assistant referee 2 and Gassama’s compatriot, Maudo Jallow as fourth official.
Also FIFA appointed Jean-Olivier Mbera from Gabon as the referee assessor, former Ghana star Anthony Baffoe as match commissioner and Nicholas Chumba Musonye from Kenya as security officer.
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The Nigeria Football Federation won a protest on Wednesday following the release of the official match time, which was previously set at 5.30pm.
“The information we sent to FIFA was that we wanted the match to start at 5pm; we were surprised when the match appointment was released and the kick-off time was set at 5.30pm. The NFF immediately protested and eventually, on Wednesday morning, FIFA agreed that the match will start at 5pm,” NFF’s Director of Competitions, Bola Oyeyode, told thenff.com.