World football governing body, FIFA, has selected 8 referees from the African continent to officiate the Qatar 2022 World Cup slated to be played in November/December later this year.Among the referees picked, there is no sight of any Kenyan official owing to the ongoing suspension the country finds itself in after the government’s decision to disband the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and install a caretaker committee in its place.Blow as FIFA ratifies Kenya suspensionIn the pile, seven of the eight referees selected are among the 10 referees who officiated the African Qualifiers of the 2022 World Cup Playoffs in March 2022.Leading the list of Africa’s finest match officials to handle games at the global soccer jamboree is famous Zambian whistleblower Janny Sikazwe who is remembered for prematurely blowing the whistle on two occasions during Tunisia vs Mali’s 2021 Africa Cup of Nations clash.BREAKING :- FIFA has just released the list of 8 top African Referees for Qatar World Cup and our very own Janny Sikazwe 🇿🇲 has been selected! Congrats Janny 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/rvpm2GSX7B— Muntu Wakamina (@MWakamina) April 5, 2022 South African Victor Gomez, Ethiopian Tesssema Balmak, Gambian Papa Gassama, Algerian Mustapha Ghorba, Moroccan Redouane Jiyed, Senegalese Magutte Ndiaye and Democratic Republic of Congo Jean Jacques Ndala complete the list of African referees for Qatar 2022.Tessema, Gassama, Sikazwe were present in the last World Cup edition held in Russia back in 2018.Kamaku na yule dem Fifa ref bana walikuwa wanaenda huku. They are devastated. https://t.co/JsV0hwviM7— Japheth Mutinda (@JaphMutinda) April 5, 2022 The 22nd edition of the World Cup will start in Qatar, Doha on the 21st November and end on 18 December 2022.Qatar 2022: African teams land favourable groups in World Cup DrawComplete List of African Referees Selected for 2022 FIFA World Cup.• Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria) 🇩🇿• Redouane Jiyed (Morocco)🇲🇦• Papa Bakary Gassama (Gambia)🇬🇲• Tesssema Balmak (Ethiopia) 🇪🇹• Victor Gomez (South Africa)🇿🇦• Janny Sikazwe (Zambia)🇿🇲• Maguette N’diaye (Senegal)🇸🇳• Jean Jacques Ndala (RD Congo) 🇨🇩Full World Cup DrawGroup A: Qatar, Equador, Senegal, NetherlandsGroup B: England, Iran, USA, EuropeGroup C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, PolandGroup D: France, ICP 1, Denmark, TunisiaGroup E: Spain, ICP 2, Germany, JapanGroup F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, CroatiaGroup G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, CameroonGroup H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, Korea
