AFCON 2024: CAF ignores Nigerian referees, shortlist 85 for preparatory course

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has again snubbed Nigerian center referees and linesmen as its launched a preparatory course for match officials ahead of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

CAF has listed 85 referees for the preparatory course against next year’s AFCON in Cote d’ Ivoire

No Nigerian referees made the shortlist released by CAF on Tuesday.

The list include centre referees, assistant referees, video assistant referees (VAR), technical instructors, physical trainers, VAR technicians and IT support.

Egypt and Algeria have the highest number of referees on the list with three each.

Four VAR referees were selected from Mauritius, South Africa, Morocco and Egypt. Seven technical instructors and physical trainers from Zimbabwe, Burundi, Cote D’Ivoire, Senegal, Morocco and Djibouti were selected.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria are among the 24 countries that will compete for the title at the 2023 AFCON finals.

This was confirmed after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) published a list of officials for the tournament on their website.

A total of 32 center referees, 33 assistant referees, and 2 VAR officials were listed by CAF for the preparation course ahead of the showpiece.