The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced that Libyan official Abdulrazg Ahmed will oversee the crucial semifinal tie between Nigeria and The Gambia at the ongoing U-20 Africa Cup of Nations set for the Cairo International Stadium at 6pm WAT on Monday.
Algerian and Nigerien officials, Hamza Bouzit and Abdoul Moctar Saley, will serve as assistant referees 1 and 2, respectively, while Moroccan referee Jalal Jayed has been appointed as the fourth official.
Comoros’ Boutane Said will be the match commissioner and Imade El Fahouss from Morocco will be general coordinator.
Two of the officials appointed by CAF for the semifinal have been involved in the Flying Eagles games at a point in the tournament. Ahmed was the fourth official for the quarterfinal match between Nigeria and Uganda last Thursday at the Suez Canal Stadium, while Jayed was part of the officiating team in the Flying Eagles 2-0 win over the Mambas of Mozambique on Saturday, February 25.
4️⃣ TEAMS.
2️⃣ SPOTS IN THE FINAL.Predictions for the 2023 #TotalEnergiesAFCONU20 semi-finals? ???? pic.twitter.com/cav0McsQSN
— #TotalEnergiesAFCONU20 (@CAF_Online) March 6, 2023
Nigeria’s opponent, the Young Scorpions of Gambia, thrashed competition debutants South Sudan 5-0 at the Harass El Hedood Stadium in Alexandria to advance to the semifinals and book a spot at the U-20 FIFA World Cup in Indonesia as one of Africa’s representatives. Together with Senegal, they are one of only two teams competing at the U-20 AFCON in Egypt that have won all of their games without allowing a single goal.
The Flying Eagles, on the other hand, are unbeaten in their last three matches since their opening-day defeat to the Young Teranga Lions. They have scored four goals and conceded just once, while the Young Scorpions have scored a total of nine goals.
The Scorpions have played all their matches at the Harass El Hedood Stadium in Alexandria, while the Flying Eagles have felt the turfs of both the Cairo International Stadium and the Suez Canal Authority Stadium.
