U17 AFCON: CAF Names Women Referees, Nigeria's Salisu As Match Officials

U17 AFCON: CAF Names Women Referees, Nigeria's Salisu As Match Officials By Sampson Adedeji For the first time in the history of African football the Confederation of African Football has decided to make use of Women match officials for the upcoming U17 African Cup Of Nations (AFCON) slated for Tanzania. The decision was taken during the CAF Referees Committee meeting held on 26 February 2019 at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo and had in attendance CAF President Ahmad Ahmad. 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 at the competitive level considering the limited matches and competitions, which often affects their progress and development. Meanwhile, the African football governing body had named Nigeria's Basheer Salisu as one of the officials. Fifteen (15) referees and 14 assistant referees from 25 Member Associations will undergo a medical, physical and theoretical test to select the conclusive list of match officials for the final tournament scheduled for 14-28 April 2019 in Tanzania. For the first time, women referees will officiate at a men's tournament, Total U-17 AFCON Tanzania 2019. The trail blazers are Jonesia Kabakama, Mary Njoroge and Lidwine Rakotozafinoro. They will take part in a training course from 31 March to April in Morocco.