South African match officials Abongile Tom, Jelly Chavani, and Zakhele Siwela have been tasked with officiating the 2025 AFCON Qualifiers clash between Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone.
The three officials, who boast wealth of experience on both local and the continental front, have been tasked with officiating when the defending AFCON champions take on the Leone Stars at Laurent Pokou Stadium later tonight.
South African match officials have been in the spotlight lately for alleged poor officiating, with Tom recently making headlines post the MTN8 final between Stellenbosch FC and Orlando Pirates.
Tom has been carrying the South African flag as he was part of the only three match officials to represent South Africa at the recent 2023 AFCON which was hosted in Ivory Coast, and he will be the man in the middle for tonight’s titanic clash.
The two South Africans, Siwela who also has experience in the continent will be the second assistant referee, and Chavani will be the fourth official.
Ivory Coast is sitting top of Group G with six points after two matches after beating Zambia and Chad 2-0, respectively. Meanwhile, Sierra Leone is sitting third with one point after playing to a 0-0 draw against Chad.
