Bakary Papa Gassama from Gambia will officiate at the world cup in Russia[/caption]
Fifa has chosen six African officials for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, it was revealed on Thursday.
In addition there will also be 10 assistant referees from Africa. The referees and the assistants make up a total of 99 officials selected for the tournament. The world governing body also announced that video assistant referees (VAR) will be chosen from the pool of officials. VAR, which has caused controversy in Europe, will be used for the first time at a World Cup when the tournament starts on 14 June. The officials, chosen from 46 countries, will attend a two-week seminar at the Italian Football Association's base in Coverciano next month. The African referees are: Mehdi Abid Charef from Algeria, Malang Diedhiou of Senegal, Bakary Papa Gassama from The Gambia, Gehad Grisha from Egypt, Janny Sikazwe from Zambia, and Ethiopian Bamlak Tessema Weyesa. Europe will be represented by referees from Germany, Turkey, Russia, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Serbia, Italy, Slovenia and France. Asia will have six as will north and South America and two from Oceania.
