South Africa’s top referee Victor Gomes has been confirmed as one of the senior referees who will officiate at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar with Zakhele Siwela, accompanying him as an assistant referee.
Gomes will be among the 36 referees appointed by the football governing body for the November tournament.
This was disclosed on FIFA’s social media platform.
Gomes has never officiated in World Cup but going to Qatar would be his biggest achievement in his professional career that started in 2008.
Gomes’ excellent performance at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) final in Cameroon early this year must have paved the way for him.
In the Afcon final between Egypt and Senegal in February, Gomes had a heated argument with Salah and the referee stamped his authority and won the fight.
The 2021 Afcon edition was not his first and it’s certainly not his last. His first edition was in 2019 (in Egypt) but officiating the final was his first in February.
Other African officials selected for the world cup duty are Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria), Redouane Jiyed (Morocco), Tesssema Balmak (Ethiopia), Jean Jacques Ndala (RD Congo) and two controversial referees Janny Sikazwe (Zambia) and Maguette N’diaye (Senegal).
Source: Scrolla.
