 has announced the list of match officials for the upcoming 2024 African Nations Championship){kind=link}
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced the list of match officials for the upcoming 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) — and, once again, no Nigerian referee has been included.
Despite Nigeria’s prominent presence in African football and the country’s participation in several CAF tournaments, Nigerian match officials have been consistently overlooked for major officiating roles in recent years.
This latest omission continues that trend, raising fresh concerns about the development and international competitiveness of Nigerian referees.
CAF released a total of 75 officials for the CHAN tournament, comprising:
26 centre referees 26 assistant referees 18 Video Match Officials (VMOs) 5 referee instructors
The full list features referees from various regions across the continent, including North, East, Southern, and Central Africa — but Nigeria was conspicuously absent, despite having nominees in earlier CAF courses and pre-selection activities.
The 2024 CHAN tournament — which is exclusively for players active in their domestic leagues — will be held from August 2 to 30, 2025, after it was postponed due to a congested CAF calendar. This will mark the eighth edition of the competition, and it is set to feature 18 teams across multiple venues.
The repeated exclusion of Nigerian referees has raised questions within the local football community, with stakeholders urging the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the Referees Association to intensify efforts in training, exposure, and lobbying to ensure that Nigerian officials are not left behind on the continental stage.
A CAF source cited the need for consistency, fitness, and performance at international seminars as key selection criteria — areas where Nigerian referees may need to improve.
Nigeria last had a referee at CHAN in 2018, and since then, officials from countries like Morocco, Algeria, Rwanda, and South Africa have continued to dominate officiating roles in CAF’s flagship tournaments.
With the CHAN competition designed specifically to showcase talent within local leagues, many see this as a missed opportunity for Nigerian referees to gain valuable exposure and experience on the African stage.