AFCON 2023: Egypt’s Amin Omar to officiate Nigeria, South Africa Clash
The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) semi-final match between South Africa’s Bafana Bafana and Nigeria’s Super Eagles is scheduled for Wednesday. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has selected Egyptian referee Amin Omar for the match.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Director of Communications, Ademola Olajire, made this claim in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
Mahmoud Abouelregal and Ahmed Ibrahim, two of Omar’s countrymen, will act as assistant referees 1 and 2, respectively, while Mahmood Ismail of Sudan would be the fourth official, he claimed.
Olajire said that Attia Amsaaed from Libya will be the reserve assistant referee, with Yacoub Elmi from Djibouti as commissioner and Aboubacar Doumbouya from Guinea as referee assessor.
“Three-time champions Nigeria and 1996 champions South Africa face off in their second-ever Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) semi-final clash at the Stade de la Paix.
“Their only previous meeting at the same stage, at the National Stadium in Lagos, when Nigeria co-hosted the 2000 finals with Ghana, ended 2-0 in favour of Nigeria.
“Wednesday’s clash is being billed as the more potentially explosive of the two semi-finals; hosts Cote d’Ivoire will be up against the Democratic Republic of Congo, given the pedigree, rivalry, and ambition of the two teams,” he said.
South Africa only defeated Nigeria twice in 14 previous meetings at full senior level, though Nigeria edged an African Nations Championship clash by beating the hosts 3-1 in Cape Town in 2014.
The Eagles are presently ranked 42nd in the world by FIFA and 6th in Africa, while the Bafana Bafana are 66th in the world and 12th in Africa.
In 2019, both teams met at the quarterfinal stage, with the Eagles beating South Africa 2-1 at the Cairo International Stadium. The goals came from Samuel Chukwueze and William Ekong.
Both players are in the present squad and are likely to be part of Wednesday’s battle.
