Highly-rated South African referee Abongile Tom will take charge of Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations match between Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea – which will be his first-ever AFCON match.
Tom can look back at an impressive year 2023, where he was part of the CHAN referee, the FIFA U20 World Cup, the U23 AFCON Referee and the VAR Women Champions League.
He is one of 26 referees at the AFCON, following into the footsteps of Victor Gomes, who was in charge of the last AFCON final between Senegal and Egypt, writing international headlines for offering Mohamed Salah his whistle.
On Sunday, Tom will take charge of the clash between the Super Eagles Equatorial Guinea, which kicks off at 16:00.
- Tom is not the only South African referee at AFCON, as he will be joined by Akhona Makalima, who will be part of the VAR referees as she is well-versed in the technology having used it during the 2023 Women’s COSAFA Cup in Gauteng recently.
