By Arfang M.S. Camara
Gambia and Africa’s best referee, Bakary Papa Gassama has been appointed to officiate the FIFA World Cup reverse playoffs game between Algeria and Cameroon.
The Foxes will host the reserve fixture at the Stade Mustapha Tchaker in Blida on March 29.
Botwana’s referee Joshua Bondo will be officiating the first leg of the double encounters in Cameroon on March 23.
The 43-year-old Gambian FIFA-referee, who became one of the referees to officiate 120 minutes at the last Africa Cup of Nations tournament without going to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to review any of his decision, will again be at the center of the pitch to officiate one of biggest games in the FIFA World Cup playoffs.
Papa Gassama as he fondly called who officiated three of the big clashes at the Afcon has been praised in the matter he officiated and controlled games in both African and at the world stage.
The winner over the two legs will be one of the five African teams in the FIFA World Cup tournament in Qatar.
Meanwhile, Algeria played in the FIFA World Cup finals four times (1982, 1986, 2010 and 2014). Their best feat was Round of 16 in Brazil 2014.
In total, Algeria played 13 matches, where they won 3, drew 3 and lost 7. They scored 13 goals and conceded 19 in the process.
Cameroon, on the other hand, was the first African team to reach the World Cup quarterfinals in Italy 1990. They appeared in seven editions, African record (1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014)
In total, Cameroon played 23 matches, where they won 4, drew 7 and lost 12. They scored 18 goals and conceded 43 in the process.