Gambian referee Bakary Papa Gassama will line-up alongside side some of Africa’s finest referees in this year’s Glo-CAF award ceremony at the International Conference Centre tonight, in Abuja, Nigeria, for the African Referee Of The Tear 2015.
The 36 year-old Gambian, who won the award last year, has been nominated for the third year in a row and he will face competition from Eric Arnaud Otogo Castene of Gabon, Ghead Zaglol Grisha of Egypt, Zambia’s Janny Sikazwe and Alioum Neant of Cameroon.The Gambian referee also finished second in the 2013 edition.
Papa as fondly known to some of his country men, took part in the 2015 African Cup of Nations finals in Equatorial Guinea, his fourth in the run. He also refereed his third consecutive African Champions League finals this year.
Gassama officiating the game between the Netherlands and Chile at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The rise of 36 year old has become one of the major success stories to come out of Gambian football and thus he is widely celebrated in the small West African nation, where he also officiates.
Since becoming a FIFA referee back in 2007, Papa has has gain a lot experience on the International football scene having officiated in some high profiled International games. He was invoved in 2012 Olympics where he was the fourth official for the gold medal match between Mexico and Brazil.
He also served as a referee during the 2014 World qualifiers and at the World Cup itself in Brazil as part of the five African referees at the tournament. He also refereed at the 2013 Club World Cup in Morocco.
His role in the middle of the park has taken another dimension as he made history last year when he officiated two games in the Qatari domestic football league to become the first non-Asian referee to do so, as part of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Qatari Football Federation and Fifa, for refereeing assistance.
The Memorandum allows top African referees and assistants to officiate some of the toughest and fiercely contested games in the Qatari Super League, and Mr Gassama was the first to take part at the inception stage of the the proposal.
Another victory in the referees award tonight will cement The Gambian official’s place as one of the best referees in the continent.
