Card-Happy Gabonese Referee To Officiate Algeria vs Nigeria World Cup Qualifier

With 26 days to go before a dead-rubber World Cup qualifier between Algeria and Nigeria, Fifa has appointed Gabonese referee Eric Otogo-Castane to officiate the match.

The 41-year-old will be assisted by MM. Aboubacar Doumbouya of Guinea and Seydou Tiama of Burkina Faso, while the fourth referee is Juste Ephrem Zio of Burkina Faso.

Omer Kouamé Dehoulé from Côte d'Ivoire is the match commissioner, while the Referee Inspector is Aden Robleh Rayaleh from Djibouti.

Eric Otogo-Castane has been a Fifa referee since 2011 and CAF Elite Referee since November of that year.

He took charge of a match at the 2012 African Cup of Nations, and officiated three times at the 2015 AFCON.

In the last six years, Otogo-Castane has been in the middle in 47 continental and U20 World Cup games, and awarded 22 penalties, issued 155 yellow cards and sent off three players.

Nigeria,who have already qualified for the World Cup, will wrap up group play at Mohamed-Hamlaoui Stadium in Constantine on November 10, 2017.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel