Zambian official Janny Sikazwe claimed he had been hallucinating and feared he would die after twice blowing for full-time early during the Africa Cup of Nations.
The referee who blew for full-time on 85 minutes in a howler at the Africa Cup of Nations has been selected for this year’s World Cup.
Zambian official Janny Sikazwe was ridiculed online after twice blowing the final whistle early during the group stage match between Tunisia and Mali back in January. After first blowing his whistle five minutes early, the match was restarted before Sikazwe again ended the match, this time seconds before the 90 minute mark.
Despite that error, he has now been included amongst the officials chosen by FIFA for the World Cup in Qatar later this year.
A total of 36 referees, 69 assistant referees and 24 video match officials have been named for the tournament, including female officials for the very first time.
Stephanie Frappart, who took charge of the French Cup final earlier this month, Rwanda’s Salima Mukansanga and Yoshimi Yamashita of Japan are the first female referees who have been selected to officiate at a World Cup, along with three female assistant referees.
Frappart was also the only female official chosen as a referee at last summer’s Euros but only worked as a a fourth official during the tournament.
Former referee and current chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee Pierluigi Collina explained via The New York Times: “This concludes a long process that began several years ago with the deployment of female referees at FIFA men’s junior and senior tournaments. In this way, we clearly emphasise that it is quality that counts for us and not gender.”
The Premier League will be represented in Qatar by Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor as well as four English assistant referees.
Following his howler at AFCON, Sikazwe claimed he had been hallucinating due to heatstroke and feared he would die as a result of the intense heat in Cameroon.
Source: https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/janny-sikazwe-afcon-world-cup-27010437
