Online Reporter
Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE long wait for Zimbabwean match officials to perform duties at the Africa Cup of Nations is over after the selec-tion of the country’s best referee Brighton Chimene for the upcoming tournament in Morocco in December.
Chimene will be a Video Match official working with Video Assistant Referees.
VAR has become an integral part of international football competition.
But it is Chimene’s appointment which ends 17 years of waiting for the country’s officials to be on the big stage.
Zimbabwe’s officials have been performing below standards and have, as a result, been sidelined from such major competitions like the World Cup, Olympic Games, AFCON and the Africa Nations Championships finals.
The now retired pair of Brighton Mudzamiri and Felix Tangawarima who officiated at 2002 World Cup and the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games remain the next achievers from the Zimbabwean refereeing fraternity.
However, Chimene has been a bright spark among local match officials who were also pegged back by Zimbabwe’s suspension from international football by FIFA between March 2022 and July 2023.
The last Zimbabwean referee to be given the nod by the Confederation of African Football to handle matches at the AFCON was Kenny Marange in 2008.
Since then it has been a tale of missing in action in for the local referees.
But Chimene, often accompanied and ably assisted by Tafadzwa Nkala, Luckson Mhara and Lawrence Zimondi, has been a leading light handling high-pressure games such as the Harare derby between CAPS United and the Battle of Zimbabwe showdown between Dynamos and Highlanders.
He has also been receiving numerous appointments to handle AFCON and World Cup qualifiers and was at the CHAN finals in Kenya where he operated as a VAR official.
Earlier this month Chimene took charge of the World Cup qualifier between Equatoria Guinea and Liberia at Estadio de Malabo.
He has now been duly rewarded for his consistency by CAF with a call to be part of the crew that will be on duty in Morocco between December and January.
The 35-year-old Rusape-based referee has already been booked for the AFCON preparatory course to take place in Cairo, Egypt from November 8-13.
Chimene will have a familiar face in the instruction team where Zimbabwean veteran referee Felix Tangawarima will be leading.
The selected referees and assistant referees will travel to Cairo from November 8–13 for an intensive training camp ahead of the competition’s kick-off in December.
A total of 94 officials, which includes 33 referees, 36 assistant referees, and 11 Video Assistant Referees (VAR), have been invited to participate in a preparatory course.
The training will focus on fitness drills, match management, and VAR operations to ensure uniform officiating standards across the competition.
Chimene’s reputation as a top referee has been growing over the past few years with both COSAFA and CAF in-creasingly trusting him.
He was the centre referee for the COSAFA Cup final pitting Mozambique and hosts South Africa in Bloemfontein three months ago.
He was also a key refereeing figure in the CHAN finals co-hosted by Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya in August.
Chimene officiated as the VAR man during the COSAFA Under-17 hosted in Zimbabwe last month on top of taking part in the CAF World Cup 2026 qualifiers that ended this month.
While he was yet to be cleared to talk to the media at the time of going to press, Chimene has always expressed excitement each time he has been chosen to officiate in international fixtures.
And this is the first time he will be joining the elite referees from across the continent at the prime African tournament.
