Following discussions on the resumption of continental competitions in the not distant future, match officials have been gearing up for the D-Day, after sporting activities were put on hold due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
Continental competitions were suspended in March 2020, however the match officials – Referees and Assistant Referees have been training to maintain their fitness and stay in shape, involved in virtual courses under the supervision and guidance of the newly constituted Technical Board of Experts in collaboration with the CAF Refereeing Department.
The composition of the Technical Board of Experts is as follows;
Celestin Ntagungira (Rwanda) – Coordinator & Central-East Zone
Jerome Damon (South Africa) – Deputy Coordinator
An Yan Lim Kee Chong (Mauritius) – South Zone
Essam ElDin Abdel Fattah (Egypt) – North Zone
Malang Diedhiou (Senegal) – West A Zone
Noumandiez Doue (Cote d’Ivoire) – West B Zone
Divine Evehe (Cameroon) – Central Zone
Tempa Ndah (Benin) – Women’s Representative
Hadqa Yahya (Morocco) – VAR Support
Neji Jouini (Tunisia) – Consultant
During a video conference meeting on Tuesday (21 July 2020), CAF President Ahmad Ahmad explained the decision to constitute an independent body of experts in line with CAF’s strategic reforms policy ‘Transform CAF 2021’ launched few months ago.
“It is important that our Referees and Assistant Referees remain in the best of shapes for the resumption of competitions. Officiating is an essential part of the game and we have work hard especially during this period to get the best personnel for our matches to project the image of the continent as well,” Ahmad said.
Ahmad commended the board for the tremendous work during the period of the lockdown and their commitment to raise the standard of officiating on the continent, whilst urging them to respect protocols of their respective state authorities during these unusual times to control the pandemic.
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