A Nigerian FIFA badged-referee, Mr. Peter Edibe has accused FIFA of politicking with the selection of match officials which he claims has robbed Nigeria of a chance to have a referee at the world cup.
Mr. Edibe revealed that he was surprisingly removed from the list without a just cause and alleged that god-fatherism was responsible for his being dropped from the world cup assembly.
He further pointed out that his team mates, Alioum Neant and Menkouande Evarist both from Cameroon made the list because they had the CAF president, Issa Hayatou, on their side.
”My elimination from the world cup is a political issue because my team mates that we belong to the same group from Cameroon are there but I was dropped just because I don’t have a God-father, I was removed from the list but no one made noise for me because the Cameroonians had Isah Hayatou and no one could touch them. I’m supposed to be at the world cup too but no one stood for me” Edibe moaned.
Leading the African contingent of referees set for World Cup in Brazil are – Noumandiez Doue (Ivory Coast), Bakary Papa Gassama (Gambia), and Djamel Haimoudi (Algeria).
Other African referees on shortlist include: Doue Noumandiez Desire (Cote d’ Ivoire), Gassama Bakary Papa (Gambia), Alioum Neant (Cameroun), and Bennett Daniel Frazer (South Africa).
The assistant referees nominated from Africa are Yeo Songuifolo (Cote d’Ivoire), Birumushahu Jean Claude (Burundi), Menkouande Evarist (Cameroon), Kabanda Felicien (Rwanda), Achik Redouane (Morocco), Etchiali Abdelhak (Algeria), Camara Djibril (Senegal), and Range Marwa (Kenya).
Europe provides nine of the 25 officiating teams, South America has five, Asia has four, Africa and the CONCACAF region have three each, and Oceania one.
The youngest referee chosen is 33-year-old Wilmar Roldan of Colombia, and the oldest is 43-year-old Noumandiez Doue of Ivory Coast.
