Iyorhe Calvin-Onwuka, Two other Nigerian Referees Listed For WAFU U20

Iyorhe Calvin-Onwuka, Two other Nigerian Referees Listed For WAFU U20

By Editor

Nigeria’s FIFA Elite Assistant Referee Mimisen Iyorhe Calvin-Onwuka and two other Nigerians have been listed by the West African Football Union (WAFU) to officiate at next month’s UFOA B U20 regional tournament.

Mimisen Iyorhe Calvin-Onwuka will be joined by another assistant referee Celestine Efosa Igudia and centre referee Joseph Ogabor at the tournament to be staged in Niger Republic.

Calvin-Onwuka has officiated in many international football competitions on the continent including the 2018 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations and made history when she was part of the first set of women referees to ever officiate a CAF Men’s game when she officiated at the 2021 African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Cameroon.

Also in November 2021, she made history again by being among the first set of referees to officiate in the Women’s CAF Champions League final in Cairo, Egypt.

The trio of Mimisen Iyorhe Calvin-Onwuka, Igudia and Ogabor are prominent referees in the Nigeria Professional Football League with the latter officiating in the Abia Derby (Abia Warriors vs Enyimba) last Wednesday.

The WAFU UFOA B competition will serve as qualifiers for the 2023 U20 Africa Cup of Nations which will be hosted by Egypt between February and March next year.

Nigeria’s Flying Eagles are one of the participating teams at the UFOA B tournament and they will know who their group stage foes are when the draws are conducted on April 15, 2022 in Niamey, Niger Republic.

Meanwhile, title holders Ghana will compete with rivals Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Togo and hosts Niger for the coveted trophy.

-ACLSports