Qatar 2022: FIFA Snub Nigerian Referees, Pick Gambian, 7 Africans

In further affirmation of the sordid state of Nigerian football, referees from the country have been left out by football world governing body, FIFA in the call up of African referees for the forthcoming 2022 World Cup tournament  taking place in Qatar.

GreenWhiteGreen GWG reports that the exclusion of Nigerian referees follows the melting of hearts in the country after the country failed to qualify for the tournament. Before then the country was sent out in the first knockout stage of the continental football tournament last January.

Just as Nigerian football officials were excluded in the continental AFCON that even had female officials from some smaller nations, no referee from the country was among the eight centre referees picked for the Qatar World Cup.

Among those picked by FIFA for the tournament were also some African referees who had partaken in past tournaments.

Leading the list of referees picked by FIFA for the Qatar 2022 World Cup is Gambian referee Papa Bakary Gassama who officiated at the 2014 and 2018 editions in Brazil and Russia respectively.

Others picked were:

• Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)

• Redouane Jiyed (Morocco)

• Tesssema Balmak (Ethiopia)

• Victor Gomez (South Africa)

• Janny Sikazwe (Zambia)

• Maguette N’diaye (Senegal)

• Jean Jacques Ndala (RD Congo)

The five countries to represent Africa in the world Cup tournament are Ghana, Cameroon, Morocco, Tunisia and Senegal.

Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola has entrenched his record in the football world with Tuesday’s Manchester City UEFA champions league quarter final win over Atletico Madrid that also blemished Diego Simeone attacking record. It was the first time since Simeone became Atletico Madrid manager that the team failed to make a single attempt on target.

Manchester City edged out a hard fought 1-0 win over Atlético Madrid in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal first leg at Etihad as Phil Foden made an instant impact off the bench, providing the assist for Kevin De Bruyne who scored the winner.

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