Eight African Referees Heading To Qatar 2022 World Cup

The FIFA Referees Committee has selected eight African officials for the 2022 World Cup, which will be held in Qatar in November and December.

According to CECAFA Online, the eight referees include Bamlak Tessema who also officiated at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia as a fourth official.

Bamlak has been selected alongside Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria), Redouane Jiyed (Morocco), Papa Bakary Gassama (Gambia), Victor Gomez (South Africa), Janny Sikazwe (Zambia), Maguette N’diaye (Senegal) and Jean Jacques Ndala (DR Congo).

The Ethiopian referee started to referee in 2003 and became international FIFA in 2009 with Djibouti vs Somalia in 2010 as his first international match.

He has officiated at the three African Cup of Nations (2017, 2019, 2021) and handled the CAF Super Cup match between Espérance and Raja Casablanca in 2019.

The eight Africans are the 36 referees, 63 assistant referees and 36 VAR officials selected for the global football showcase.

The selection process begun with the Club World Cup in UAE where the referees were examined to see if they were ready to be candidates for the big tournament.

Europe will be represented by referees from Germany, Turkey, Russia, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Serbia, Italy, Slovenia and France.