The Nigeria Football Federation has secured the services of Guinean referees to be in charge of Saturday’s potentially-explosive international friendly match between Nigeria and Ethiopia’s senior home-based squads at the National Stadium, Abuja.
In a letter addressed to the NFF and dated 1st January, General Secretary of Guinea Football Federation, Ibrahima Barry noted that his body received the request from Nigeria and has thus nominated three officials to serve as Referee, 1st Assistant Referee and 2nd Assistant
Referee respectively.
The centre referee will be Yakhouba Keita, a 38-year old official who has been an international referee since 2004. The 1st Assistant Referee is Moustapha Toure, who was born in 1980 and has been an international assistant referee since 2007.
Abdel Raffi, 30, who became an international assistant referee last year, will serve as the 2nd Assistant Referee, with the Nigeria Football Federation to appoint a Nigerian to serve as Fourth Official.
Saturday’s match has been arranged by the NFF to give the Super Eagles Team B a feel of what the furnace would be like at the 3rd African Nations Championship in South Africa, where they compete against the host nation, Mali and Mozambique in Group A.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation has called on football fans based in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and environs to come to the National Stadium on Saturday to support the home lads.
“We want to call on Nigerian ball fans in Abuja and environs to come to the National Stadium, Abuja to cheer the Eagles on Saturday. It will serve to encourage the players and get them in the spirit to confront the African continent in South Africa,” Musa Amadu,
NFF General Secretary, said on Thursday.
