Izuchukwu OkosiSenegalese official Issa Sy has been confirmed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as the centre referee when Nigeria take on Angola on Friday (February 2) in the first quarterfinals game of the 2023 Africa Cup at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan.
Sy will have compatriots Djibril Camara and Nouha Bangoura as assistant referee 1 and assistant referee 2 respectively, alongside Mauritanian official Abdel Aziz Bouh as fourth official.
Modibo Samake from Mali will serve as reserve assistant referee, while Ahmad Nazeer Hossen Bowud from Mauritius and Ali Mohamed Ahmed from Somalia will be in the roles of commissioner and referee assessor respectively.
The match, which will kick off 6pm Nigeria time will be the latest installment of decisive clashes between both nations as they try to cross hurdles towards achieving a feat.
Nigeria edged Angola to reach the final round of the qualification series for the 1990 FIFA World Cup finals drawing 2-2 in Luanda and 1-0 in Lagos albeit the latter game was marred by the demise of late Samuel Sochukwuma Okwaraji who slumped on the pitch and was later declared dead due to heart failure.
The Angolans upset Nigeria to make their single appearance at the FIFA World Cup finals, when they won 1-0 in Luanda and held the Eagles 1-1 in Kano to edge the head-to-head contest that was the determining factor for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification series.
The winner of Friday’s encounter will square up with the winner of the clash between Cape Verde’s Blue Sharks and South Africa’s Bafana Bafana in one of the semi final matches, at the Stade de la Paix in Bouake.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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