AFCON 2023: Senegalese referee to take charge of Nigeria, Angola duel

By Rasheed Adewuyi

Senegalese official Issa Sy will be the referee when Nigeria takes on Angola in Friday’s Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final encounter at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan.

Sy will have compatriots Djibril Camara and Nouha Bangoura in tow as assistant referees 1 and 2, respectively, alongside Mauritanian official Abdel Aziz Bouh as the fourth official.

Modibo Samake from Mali will serve as reserve assistant referee, while Ahmad Nazeer Hossein Bowud from Mauritius and Ali Mohamed Ahmed from Somalia will be commissioner and referee assessor, respectively.

The match, which will commence at 5 pm Cote d’Ivoire time (6 pm Nigeria time), will be another of the rare occasions that Nigeria and Angola tango on the turf, with few clashes between both nations at senior level over the years.

Nigeria edged Angola to reach the final round of the qualification series for the 1990 FIFA World Cup finals (2-2 in Luanda and 1-0 in Lagos), but the Angolans stepped on Nigeria to make their single appearance at the FIFA World Cup finals, when they won 1-0 in Luanda and held the Eagles 1-1 in Kano to edge the head-to-head contest that was the determining factor for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification series.

Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali is fit to start Friday’s encounter, though Coach Jose Peseiro has indicated he may not want to risk the safe hands if he is not fit enough for the tie.

The winner of Friday’s encounter will square up with the clash between Cape Verde’s Blue Sharks and South Africa’s Bafana Bafana in one of the semi-final matches at the Stade de la Paix in Bouake.