Nigerian referees hope of breaking the World Cup jinx continues as FIFA did not name any of them for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The world football governing body while naming Africans for the tournament on Monday did not consider any Nigerian referee worthy for the World Cup.
Recall that no Nigerian referee has been considered worthy to referee at any of the World Cup since its inception.
Recall that no Nigerian referee has been considered worthy to referee at any of the World Cup since its inception.
The African referees that FIFA named for the tournament are Mustapha Ghorbal from Algeria, Omar Mohammed from Egypt, Redouane Jiyed from Morocco, BamlakTessema from Ethiopia, Ngambo Ndala from DR Congo and Maguette Ndiaye from Senegal.
Perhaps, the biggest miss on the list is the Cameronian, Alioum Sidi, one of the best on the continent.
Sidi has officiated at five different Africa Cup of Nations and two FIFA World Cups. He was ahead of the three-member Cameronian officials who refereed the last AFCON final between Senegal and Algeria in 2019.
Meanwhile, North Africa produced three of the referees selected for the World Cup, underlining the region’s dominance.
According to schedule, the 2022 World Cup will run from Monday, November 21 to December 18. It marks the first time the global event will take place in the core Muslim country.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino will continue in his post, world football’s governing body insisted Sunday, as they blasted the launch of Swiss criminal proceedings against him.
“There was and is absolutely no reason to open any investigation because nothing remotely criminal has happened and there is nothing at all to suggest any form of criminal wrongdoing,” FIFA said in a media release.
“The FIFA president will continue to fully assume his functions within FIFA and fulfil his duties and will continue to cooperate with the authorities in Switzerland and around the world.”
Special prosecutor Stefan Keller started proceedings on Thursday as part of an investigation into suspected collusion between Infantino and Switzerland’s attorney general Michael Lauber, the country’s top prosecutor.
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