Gabonese Official Atcho to Referee Crucial Nigeria vs South Africa World Cup Qualifier

FIFA has appointed Gabon’s Pierre Ghislain Atcho as the center referee for the pivotal 2026 World Cup qualifying match between Nigeria’s Super Eagles and South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.

Atcho will be supported by an all-Gabonese team of match officials. Boris Marlaise Ditsoga and Amos Abeigne Ndong will serve as the first and second assistant referees, respectively, while Cregue Fleury Moukagni has been named the fourth official.

Overseeing the match operations will be referee assessor Olivier Safari Kabene from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ugandan match commissioner Mike Letti.

The highly anticipated Matchday eight clash is scheduled to take place next Tuesday at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein.

About The Author

Dele Fashomi

Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.

Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.

He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.

Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).

He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.

He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.

Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.

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