South Africa's former FIFA World Cup referee Victor Gomes was elected vice-president of the CAF Referees Committee at Friday's CAF (Confederation of African Football) executive committee meeting in Rabat, Morocco.
The 40-year-old Gomes was an outstanding referee until his retirement just over a year ago after doing duty at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He served as a PSL referee since 2008 and on two occasions was voted 'PSL Referee of the Season'.
He has been an international referee since 2011.
Gomes will be the understudy to Benin's Hugues Alain Adjoyi, who was named president of the referees' committee.
CAF president Motsepe, speaking from the newly built headquarters of the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football (FRMF) in Rabat, said the referees' committee played a major in the growth of African football.
“The integrity, independence and credibility of referees, match commissioners and VAR operators are crucial for the respect and growth of African football," said Motsepe.
"We are confident that the newly appointed CAF referees committee members will contribute towards the growth and global competitiveness of football in Africa.”
The other referees' committee members are Fatou Gaye (Senegal), Dombouya Aboubacar (Guinea), Ali Mohammed Ahmed (Somalia), Tesfanesh Woreta (Ethiopia), Djamel Haimoudi (Algeria), Hadqa Yahya (Morocco), Olivier Safari Kabene (Democratic Republic of Congo), Louzaya René Daniel (Congo), Inacio Candido (Angola), Gladys Lengwe (Zambia), Aminu Shantali Shuaibu (Nigeria).
The executive committee members will be attending the final of the TotalEnergies CAF Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, in Rabat, on Saturday evening.
The hosts Morocco will face defending champions Egypt in the highly-anticipated final.
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