2 October 2018 – Leading referee Victor Gomes and prominent Assistant Referee, Zakhele Siwela have been invited to the CAF headquarters in Cairo to undergo the training for VAR which will be used in this year’s CAF Champions League and Confederations Cup finals.

The course will take place from 24-29 October 2018.

A total of six referees and three assistants from across the continent have been selected to undergo the training in preparation for the CAF finals.

South Africa which has been lauded by CAF as having the best match officials on the continent is the only country with two officials who have been earmarked to undergo this important training course while former Referee Jerome Damon will be among the four instructors.

The referees who have been invited to undergo training are Victor Gomes (SA), Janny Sikazwe (Zambia), Ghead Grisha (Egypt), Abid Charef Mehdi (Algeria), Tessema Weyesa (Ethiopia) and Bakary Papa Gassama (Gambia).

The Assistant VAR are Emiliano Dos Santos (Angola), Zakhele Siwela (SA) and Jean Claude Birumush (Burundi).

The course will be run David Elleray, Damon, Doue Noumandiez and Malang Diedhiou.

SAFA’s Chair of Referees Committee Natasha Tsichlas said the continued faith shown by CAF in our referees, underscores the fact that when it comes to producing top officials, South Africa was second to none on the continent.

“We are proud as SAFA that our officials are among the top elite constantly selected by CAF to handle high profile matches. We are in the process of producing several upcoming officials and with the partnership we have entered with OUTsurance, we have no doubt our officials will soon be among the best in the world,” said Tsichlas