ABUJA – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has appointed Moroccan referees to officiate the CAN U-17 qualifying match between Nigeria and Gabon on Saturday.
According to a statement from the Media Officer of the national under-17 team, Morakinyo Abodunrin, 36-year-old Noureddine El Jaafari, will be at the centre of the match.
The Nigerian team known as Golden Eaglets would host their Gabonese counterpart in a must win match at the U.J. Esuene Stadium, Calabar.
The match is the return-leg match of the final qualifying rounds of the 2015 CAN U-17 qualifiers. [eap_ad_1] CAF has also picked 33-year-old Benbapa Essam and 34-year-old HichamAit Abbou, as the first and second assistant, respectively.
“The fourth official, also a Moroccan, is Mounir Mabrouk, while the Match Commissioner Osama Hassan, is from Sudan,’’ the statement stated.
Meanwhile, the Golden Eaglets will miss the services of striker Victor Osimhen and midfielder Ernest Agenor, due to poor disciplinary record.
“While Osimhen earned a red card during the first leg of the match in Libreville, Agenor ruled himself out after accumulating a second yellow card in the qualifiers,’’ the statement stated.
However, the Team’s Coordinator, Prince Udofia, said there was no cause for alarm since, “there is strength in the team and other players will rise to the challenge.
“The coaches have been working with other players since they know that both players won’t be available.
“There is no problem about that because there is a pool of good players to be chosen from,’’ Udofia said. (NAN)
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