Bunmi Ogunyale
Respected FIFA referee, Bakary Gassama have been named as the centre referee for the Super Eagles AFCON 2019 qualifier against South Africa in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The 39-year old Gambian will be assisted by his countrymen, Sulayman Sosseh and Omar Darboe as the first and second assistant referees respectively.
The game is the biggest of matches to be played in the round five of the 2019 AFCON qualifiers across Africa later this month and Africa football Governing body decided to look into the direction of the biggest referee in the continent to be in charge of the game.
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Gassama is not new to game of this magnitude as he has officiated several high profile matches, and was among the few Africans officials who called upon by the FIFA to handle matches at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Before now, Gassama was the arbiter when Nigeria became the first African country to qualify for Brazil 2014 World Cup, courtesy their 2-0 home win over Ethiopia in Calabar.
He was also at the center referee as Nigeria beats Algeria 3-1 in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier clash in Uyo.
Meanwhile, a draw for the Super Eagles in Johannesburg will seal their qualifications to the 2019 African biggest football festival in Cameroon with a game in hand.
Nigeria tops group E with nine points from four games while South Africa are second with eight points from same number of games while Libya are third with four points.