The South African Football Association say they are confident that Victor Gomes will do a “magnificent job” when taking charge of the Africa Cup of Nations final on Friday.
Gomes will be the referee when Senegal and Algeria face off for the title in Cairo (9pm SA time kickoff).
The 36-year-old has built up a reputation as a no-nonsense official in the South African Premiership, where he is not scared to dish out yellow and red cards.
But his performances have been rewarded, as he is the only South African referee at Afcon, with the only other local official being assistant referee Zakhele Siwela.
Gomes was chosen as the PSL Referee of the Season in 2012/13 and 2017/18, and was praised last year for reporting an attempted bribe in the Caf Confederations Cup.
“We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Victor on his huge appointment of being in charge of the 2019 Afcon final – this is big by any means, and we are confident he will do a magnificent job,” said Tenda Masikhwa, the head of department: referees at the SA Football Association.
“This move by Caf speaks volumes about South African match officials – as we have always maintained that they are held in high esteem on the continent for the good work they are doing.
It's a date then...
19/7/2019 - Cairo Stadium 🏟️ pic.twitter.com/mTPHXhtjw5
“We are hopeful this will encourage other match officials to work harder to get to this point.
“We would also like to say thank you to Caf for showing confidence in our match officials. Once again, good luck to Victor and his team.”
Gomes was in charge of three Afcon matches – Egypt v DR Congo, Ghana v Tunisia and Zimbabwe v Uganda – while he was the fourth official in the semi-final between Nigeria and Algeria.
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