CAF scraps FA Presidents on Referees Committee, appoints independent officials

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has canceled the concept of appointing federation presidents onto the body's referees committee in a bid to ensure its independence and fairness as part of the administrative reforms.

This major move by President Ahmad Ahmad is part of the administrative restructuring and repair of mistakes of the past that threatened the reputation of CAF after accusations that the Referees Committee favored some clubs or countries.

Federation heads were previously named to lead the Referees Committee of CAF which led to accusations of favoritism with claims that referees were appointed to favor or victimize clubs or countries.

Now CAF has removed all federation heads from its Referees Committee and appointed highly experienced former referees who are independent to end the accusation of favoritism in officiating on the continent.

Highly experienced former referee and now FIFA instructor Lim Kee Chong of Mauritius will head the committee to be assisted by Ntagungira Celestin of Rwanda.

Other members of the committee are Lawson Hogban Latre Edrona of Togo, Magassa Sidi Bekaye of Mali, Zimbabwe's Felix Tangawarima, Essam El-Din Abdel Fattah of Egypt and Morocco's Hadqa Yahya.

The Referees Committee, previously headed by Djibouti's FA chief Suleiman Waberi, was harshly criticized by Tunisian side Esperance after their Champions League final clash with Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca.

Several other matches were also attacked with the accusation of bias which led to the decision of forming a new committee independent of football administrators to ensure fairness.

Below is the list of members of the CAF Referees Committee

1. An Yan Lim Kee Chong (Ile Maurice) Member

2. Ntagungira Celestin (Rwanda) Member

3. Lawson Hogban Latre Edrona (Togo) Member

4. Magassa Sidi Bekaye (Mali) Member

5. Felix Tangawarima (Zimbabwe) Member

6. Essam El Din Abdel Fattah (Egypte) Member

7. Hadqa Yahya (Maroc) Member