By Arfang M.S. Camara
Gambia’s referee, Bakary Papa Gassama became the first referee to officiate 120 minutes in the just concluded Africa Cup of Nations tournament without going to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to review any of his decisions.
The second referee to follow Papa Gassama was South African referee Victor Miguel de Freitas Gomez, who officiated the Afcon final between Senegal and Egypt.
The West African nation, Senegal won their first ever Afcon title thanks to a 4-2 post match penalty shootout win following a 120 minutes encounter which ended in a goalless.
The Africa’s best referee who was criticized by the Egyptians of not been fit to officiate their Afcon semifinal encounter against the host Cameroon continued with his impressive performance in African football.
In a game that termed out as the clash of the titans between Egypt and Cameroon (two of the most successful nations in Afcon tournament), Gassama calmed the tension of the encounter which resulted in the sending off of the Egyptian coach Carlos Queiros with two bookings after arguing with referees.
The Gambian FIFA-referee, who officiated three of the big clashes in the Africa Cup of Nations has been praised in the matter he officiated and controlled games in both African and world games.
He officiated one of the big games in the group stages between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and the Pharaohs of Egypt at the Roumde Adjia Stadium.
He also took charged of another big encounter during the round of 16 (knockout stage) between Mali and Equatorial Guinea at the Limbe Stadium before being at the center of the field in the semifinal between host nation Cameroon and Egypt.