Senegalese referee who officiated Ghana-South Africa decider appointed for 2022 World Cup

Ndiaye Maguette, the Senegalese referee who was at the center of controversies during Ghana’s World Cup qualifier against South Africa, has been included in the list of referees to officiate at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Maguette who was later vindicated by FIFA; became topical after awarding Black Stars a penalty in their decider against Bafana Bafana in November 2021.

His name was included in the World’s football governing body official list released on Thursday, May 19, 2022, with 36 referees, 69 assistant referees, and 24 video match officials (VMOs) from six confederations have been named for the tournament.

The 35-year-old is set for his first World Cup tournament after appearing on the list.

Alongside Maguette, six African officials were named on the list, including Bakary Gassama from the Gambia, Mustapha Ghorbal from Algeria, Salima Mukansanga from Rwanda, Victor Gomez from South Africa, and Janny Sikazwe from Zambia.

All six referees officiated at the 2021 African Cup of Nations held in Cameroon.

Only two of the aforementioned names have officiated at the World Cup before, that is Gassama and Sikazwe.

Gassama,43, made his World Cup debut in 2014 when he officiated Group B clash between Netherlands and Chile. Whereas Sikazwe, 42, made his debut in 2018, officiating two games in the group stages, Belgium against Panama and Japan against Poland.

Also, 8 assistant referees were named on the list, taking Africa’s total to 14 referees.

Africa will be represented by five countries including Ghana, Tunisia, Senegal, Cameroon, and Morocco.

The 2022 edition of the World Cup is scheduled to start from November 21 to December 18.