The Confederation of African Football, CAF, has snubbed Nigerian referees for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations making it 15 years without producing a referee at the continental showpiece.
Instead, in the shortlist released on Tuesday by the Confederation, it chose referees from Mali, Burkina Faso, Sao Tome and Principe, Ghana, Egypt and other countries but also excluding Niger Republic.
The shortlisted referees who are 85 would attend a preparatory course ahead of the tourney early next year.
The CAF list includes centre referees, assistant referees, video assistant referees (VAR), technical instructors, physical trainers, VAR technicians and IT support.
Egypt and Algeria produced the highest number with three each.
Similarly, four VAR referees were selected from Mauritius, South Africa, Morocco and Egypt.
Also, seven technical instructors and physical trainers from Zimbabwe, Burundi, Côte D’Ivoire, Senegal, Morocco and Djibouti were also selected by CAF for the event.
CAF also subbed Nigeria in the 2019 edition in Egypt when it selected 32 nationalities.
No Nigerian referee also made it to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations hosted by Cameroon.
By snubbing Nigeria, the country would have been excluded from producing a referee at AFCON for 15 years running.
Nigeria last produced a referee at the AFCON event in the 2008 edition in Ghana.
No Nigerian referee was also selected to officiate at the 2017 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations hosted in Zambia in 2017.
CAF announced a 26-man shortlist and Nigerian referees from 22 African countries for the event.
