AFCON 2019: Cameroonian referee to officiate opening game

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) have chosen Cameroonian referee Alioum Alioum to officiate the opening AFCON game between Egypt and Zimbabwe.

Egypt are set to kick-off their AFCON journey against Zimbabwe on Friday June 21 in the Cairo International Stadium.

Despite his young age, Alioum has a lot of experience when it comes to African football as he was in charge of several big games since 2010. In 2013 he took charge of the Cairo Derby in CAF Champions League.

The 36-year-old also officiated several Egypt national team games, including their 3-2 win over Guinea in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers as well as their 1-0 loss to Senegal in the 2015 AFCON qualifiers.

He will be assisted by fellow compatriot Evarist Menkouande and Senegalese El Hadji Malick Samba. The fourth official will be Maguette Ndiaye from Senegal.