Referees to raise Zim flag at Cosafa Cup tourney

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
TWO Zimbabwean match officials, Rusape-based referee Brighton Chimene and assistant referee Brighton Nyika from Bulawayo will be among the 21 match officials at next month’s Cosafa Cup in South Africa.

The tournament will also see three female match officials, referee Akhona Makalima from South Africa as well as assistants Diana Chikotesha and Paulina Joel from Zambia and Namibia respectively.

The surprise exclusion from the females’ list is Zimbabwe’s top assistant referee Faith Mloyi.

“We had referee Akhona Makalima, who went to the Caf Under-20 Cup of Nations and did very well. In 2019 we had assistant referee Diana Chikotesha, who officiated at the Caf Under-23 Cup of Nations that served as the qualifiers for the Olympics. She also did very well.

All of these match officials have shown themselves to be extremely capable. In fact, we probably had a 50-50 split of male and female match officials in the Under-17 and Under-20 zonal qualifiers last year and in many instances. I thought our female referees outshine their male counterparts,” says Felix

Tangawarima, the Cosafa referees manager, who is also a member of the Caf Referees Committee and a Fifa technical instructor.

Chimene became a Fifa referee in 2019 and his first international assignment was in February of the same year when he handled a Champions League match between Tunisian giants Etoile du Sahel and Enugu Rangers of Nigeria which saw the north Africans prevailing 2-1.

Since then, he has officiated in nine more matches, flashing out 14 yellow cards and one red card in a game between Zambia’s Napsa Stars and Ngazi Club of Comoros in December last year.

Assistant referee Nyika’s first international duty was in 2017 in a Champions League match between KCCA of Uganda and Morocco’s FUS Rabat.

Both Chimene and Nyika remain Zimbabwe’s World Cup finals prospects alongside Mloyi and Salani Ncube.

Cosafa Referees:
Abongile Tom (South Africa), Akhona Makalima (South Africa), Antonio Dungula (Angola), Artur Adriano Vaz Joao Alfinar (Mozambique), Athoumani Mohamed (Comoros), Audrick Nkole (Zambia), Brighton Chimene (Zimbabwe), Eldrick Adelaide (Seychelles), Andofetra Rakotojaona (Madagascar), Keabetswe Dintwa (Botswana), Osiase Koto (Lesotho),Sabelo Sibandze (Eswatini).

Assistants:
Brighton Nyika (Zimbabwe), Diana Chikotesha (Zambia), Elphas Sitole (South Africa), Ivanildo Meirelles De Sanches Lopes (Angola), Lucky Kegakologetswe (Botswana), Paulina Joel (Namibia), Petros Mzikayifani Mbingo (Eswatini), Singeve Sem (Namibia), Siza Dlangamandla (Lesotho), Venestancio Cossa (Mozambique), Joseph Nyauti (Malawi).