Victoria Mgbanwa
Egyptian official Amin Mohamed Omar has been announced as the referee by The Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the semi-finals Africa Cup of Nations match between Nigeria’s Super Eagles and the Bafana Bafana of South Africa.
The match, which will commence at 5 pm Cote d’Ivoire time (6 pm in Nigeria), will see Omar’s compatriots, Mahmoud Kamel Abouelregal and Ahmed Hossam Ibrahim, playing the roles of assistant referee 1 and assistant referee 2, respectively, while Sudanese Mahmood Ali Ismail will serve as the fourth official.
Attia Essa Amsaaed from Libya will be the reserve assistant referee, with Yacoub Ali Elmi from Djibouti as commissioner and Aboubacar Doumbouya from Guinea as the referee assessor.
Three-time champions Nigeria and 1996 champions South Africa will face off in their second-ever Africa Cup of Nations 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 are up against the Democratic Republic of Congo), given the pedigree, rivalry, and ambition of the two teams.
