Super Eagles Warned As No-Nonsense Referee to Take Charge of Rwanda Clash
- The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has appointed officials to oversee the FIFA World Cup qualifier between Rwanda and Nigeria
- The center referee and his assistant are from North Africa and have officiated high-profile matches over the past year
- Rwanda will host Nigeria at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali on Matchday 5 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers
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African football's governing body has appointed Morocco’s Jayed Jalal as the center referee for the 2026 World Cup qualifying fixture between Rwanda and Nigeria.
The 37-year-old has issued 32 yellow cards and one red card between 2024 and 2025 on the continent.
Jalal will be assisted by his countrymen, Mostapha Akarkad and Hamza Nassiri, who will serve as first and second assistant referees respectively.
Source: Getty Images
Who is Jalal?
Jayed Jalal, a respected football referee from Morocco, has been appointed by CAF to officiate the match between Rwanda and Nigeria on March 21.
According to SportsVillageSquare, Jalal is very assertive, controlling matches with an iron hand, bringing sanity to the game.
The 37-year-old has issued a total of 32 yellow cards, including 13 in the Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches, three in the CAF Champions League, and four in the Botola Pro Inwi per Transfermarkt.
In Namibia's scoreless draw with Cameroon in last November's Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, he showed the yellow card five times.
Before that, he officiated the Angola 2-1 victory over Sudan, during which eight yellow cards were issued per BBC.
Source: Getty Images
Nigeria familiar with Jalal
The CAF Champions League referee officiated the Ghana versus Nigeria international friendly at the Stade de Marrakech in Marrakech in March 2024.
During that match, the Moroccan referee issued four yellow cards, two to each team, along with a straight red card to Ghana's Jerome Opoku in the 56th minute with Nigeria winning 2-1 per ESPN.
In another notable match last February, involving Nigeria's U-20 side against Senegal, Jalal handed out four yellow cards.
One of these was a second yellow to Nigeria's Ahmed Abdulahi, resulting in his expulsion in the 90th minute of the match.
Chelle names final squad
Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has announced his final 23-man squad for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Zimbabwe later this month.
The former Malian announced his first squad last week, naming a big squad of 39 players, with eight new players handed their first invitation, including three NPFL stars per Punch.
Regular stars Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, and Stanley Nwabali headlined the list, with two players from the Nigerian Premier Football League making it.
Ahmed Musa leads the absentees, which also includes fitness concerns Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and Maduka Okoye, while Cyril Dessers’ omission raised eyebrows.
Rohr names 23-man squad for World Cup qualifiers
Legit.ng earlier reported that Benin Republic coach Gernot Rohr has officially released his 23-man squad for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
The Cheetahs will face Zimbabwe at Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban in South Africa on March 20 before hosting South Africa at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, Abidjan in Ivory Coast five days later.
Morocco-based defender Rabiou Sankamao and France-based Brandon Agounon were recalled by the German tactician.
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Source: Legit.ng
