Gambians to officiate Algeria, Rwanda qualifier

FIFA has named Gambian Papa Bakary Gassama as referee for Saturday’s 2014 Brazil World Cup first leg match between Algeria and Rwanda.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

FIFA has named Gambian Papa Bakary Gassama as referee for Saturday’s 2014 Brazil World Cup first leg match between Algeria and Rwanda.Gassama, born on 2 February 1979, is one of Gambia’s outstanding referees, who have officiated high profile matches on the continent.The Gambia’s international FIFA and CAF referee will in less than 60 days feature in the London 2012 Olympic Games. He also refereed one of the semi-final fixtures at this year’s African Nations Cup finalsGassama will be assisted by Jason Joseph Damoo of Seychelles, Angesom Ogbamariam of Eritrea and Mohammed Bahou of Morocco as the fourth official.The match commissioner is Oumar Diop from Senegal. This is the second time that both Algeria and Rwanda will be meeting in a Fifa World Cup qualifying match.The two teams also met in 2009 during the 2010 South Africa world cup qualifiers. They played a goalless draw in Kigali in the first leg before the Desert Fox won the return leg in Algiers 3-1.Rwanda finished bottom of Group C with 2 points out of the possible 18 following four losses and two draws.