The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has made a groundbreaking decision to include three women in the officiating team for the 2019 U-17 African Cup of Nations in Tanzania.
In a statement issued by CAF, one referee and two assistants will handle matches at the 14-day under-17 AFCON, which is scheduled to hold from April 14, to April 28, 2019.
“The historic decision is a testament to CAF’s commitment to developing women’s football.
“It will also give women match officials a bigger platform to expose their talents and also gain experience.”
— CAF said in a statement on its website.
The selected women are Tanzanian referee Jonesia Rukyaa Kabakama, and assistants Mary Wanjiru Njoroge from Kenya, and Lidwine Rakotozafinoro from Madagascar.
The three officials alongside 26 others are among the preselected 29-match officials to undergo a training course in Rabat, Morocco, from March 31, to April 4, 2019.
All 15 referees and 14 assistant referees from 25 Member Associations will go through a series of medical, physical and theoretical tests, to select the final list of match officials for the continental tournament in Tanzania. Nigerian referee, Basheer Salisu, is the on the list.
For the U-17 AFCON, host Tanzania, Nigeria, Angola and Uganda, have been grouped into Group A, while Guinea, Cameroon, Morocco and Senegal, make up Group B.
All semi-finalists at the tournament will qualify to represent Africa at the upcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Featured image source: Wikipedia
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