The CAF Referees Committee has named three female referees and a Nigerian, Samuel Pwadutakam, as part of the 25-man list of match officials for the upcoming U-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
The list showed that 12 referees and 13 assistant referees were chosen for the tournament scheduled for November 8 to 22.
In a statement on its website on Thursday, CAF said the female referees were selected for the second time as part of its commitment to developing female referees’ capacity.
Three female match officials were earlier named for the U-17 AFCON in Tanzania in April, a first in the history of male CAF competitions.
Head of CAF Refereeing, Eddy Maillet, said, “With the U-23 AFCON serving as a qualifier for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games it will be very competitive, so having Salma (Mukasanga), one of our top referees, who of late officiated at last summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, is a tremendous advantage for CAF.
“She will be supported at the U-23 AFCON by two equally skilled experts, Fathia (Jermouni) and Diana (Chikotesha).”
The competition will see hosts Egypt in Group A with Mali, Cameroon and Ghana against title-holders Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, South Africa and Zambia will complete the pack in Group B.
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The two venues for the U-23 AFCON are the Cairo International Stadium and Al Salam Stadium.
The teams to finish in the top three will qualify to represent Africa at next year’s Olympics in Tokyo.
This article was most recently revised and updated 5 years ago
