Football: Africa Cup of Nations 2021 |28 December 2021

Referee Bernard Camille

Referee Camille, assistant referee Emile selected for Cameroon tourney

Seychellois referee Bernard Camille and assistant referee James Emile are among the 63 match officials selected by the Confederation of African Football to officiate at the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations to be held in Cameroon in January 2022.

The list consists of 24 referees, 31 assistant referees and eight video assistant referees from 36 countries.

The tournament is scheduled to kick off on Sunday January 9, 2022 with the match between hosts Cameroon and Burkina Faso at the Olembe Stadium in Yaoundé.

Confederation of African Football (Caf) director of refereeing, Seychellois Eddy Maillet was quoted as saying on the African football body’s website (cafonline): “The match officials were selected based on their experience, skills and current form. In recent months, they have been subjected to several aptitude tests through preparation courses and real competitive matches. Only the best will officiate at this extraordinary event. The roster includes two referees from the Concacaf as part of our inter-confederation skills exchange programme.”

Camille, 46, became an international referee in 2012 and has attended every Caf senior competition since 2013. He will be making his fifth appearance as a referee at the Afcon after 2013 in South Africa, 2015 in Equatorial Guinea, 2017 in Gabon and 2019 in Egypt.

“This is definitely my last Afcon and I hope to go out with a bang. I hope to at least officiate one of the two semifinals or even the third place match,” Camille told Sports NATION yesterday.

“Five Afcons in 10 years. This is a massive achievement,” he exclaimed.

He added that despite his age, he has been training twice daily ‒ morning and afternoon ‒ to be in the right physical condition for the competition which continues to grow in stature.

As for James Emile, this is his first call-up for the Afcon after officiating at seven Council of Southern African Football Associations (Cosafa) tournaments, Afcon Under-17, Afcon Under-23 and African Nations Championships (Chan). He officiated in the finals of all these competitions except at the Chan.

The 30-year-old, who made his international debut five years ago, told Sports NATION that “the Afcon is another challenge and I’m ready to give it my best shot”.

Emile, who has another 15 years ahead of him as an international assistant referee, added that he has been training hard for the competition.

It is to note that woman quartet Salima Mukasanga (Rwanda), Carine Atemzabong (Cameroon), Fatiha Jermoumi (Morocco) and Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco) continue the path started at the U-17 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations 2019 and TotalEnergies African Nations Championship 2020 (CHAN), with women referees officiating games.

All the selected match officials will complete their final preparations in Cameroon the week before the opening game. They will be closely monitored before and during the competition by a team of technical specialists and instructors.

The 2021 Afcon is scheduled to be the 33rd Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football championship of Africa organised by the Caf. The tournament’s final is scheduled to be played on February 6, 2022.

The tournament was originally scheduled to be played in June and July 2021 but Caf announced on January 15, 2020 that due to unfavourable climatic conditions during this period, the tournament would take place from January 9 to February 6, 2021. On June 30, 2020, Caf moved the tournament for the second time to January 2022 following the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic across the continent, while retaining the name 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes.

Algeria are the defending champions, beating Senegal 1-0 thanks to a freak early goal in the final in Cairo in 2019. Baghdad Bounedjah's shot took a huge deflection off Salif Sane and looped over goalkeeper Alfred Gomes to give the Desert Foxes a second Afcon win.

Senegal, who have never won the competition, were awarded a penalty for handball in the second half but it was overturned after a VAR review.

Compiled by Gerard Govinden