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Dar es Salaam. Football giants in the country, Young Africans (Yanga) and Simba SC, will be under ‘familiar’ referees ahead of their quarterfinal return legs of the CAF Champions League to be played tomorrow at different venues.
As the African football governing body (CAF) has picked Mauritanian referee Dahane Beida to officiate the Yanga-Mamelodi Sundowns clash in South Africa, the body has also selected Alhadi Allaou Mahamat of Chad to handle the Simba-Al Ahly encounter in Egypt.
The Yanga-Mamelodi Sundowns game will kick off at 9pm and Simba against Al Ahly at 11pm East African time.
The two referees are well-known by the players of the two teams including coaches, and fans, who are farmiliar with their names and faces. Beida is going to handle the Yanga match for the second time and the fourth time with Tanzanian clubs.
The Mauritanian referee was in charge of the CAF Confederation Cup final match between Yanga and USM Alger held on June 3, last year in Algiers, which Yanga won 1-0 at Stade du 5 Juillet.
His first time to officiate a match involving a Tanzanian club was on October 1, 2023, in Cairo, between Modern Future of Egypt and Singida Fountain Gate FC in the CAF Confederation Cup. Singida lost 4-1.
He also officiated the first leg of the African Football League between Simba and Al Ahly held at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam on October 20, 2023. The match ended in a 2-2 draw.
Records show that Beida has officiated seven CAF matches since last year and managed to book players with yellow cards 26 times.
Among the games, 11 were in the Africa Cup of Nations, eight in the CAF Confederation Cup, four in the CAF Champions League, and three in the Africa Football League (AFL).
He also booked one player with a second yellow card in the Afcon, two straight red cards in the CAF Confederation Cup, and one red card during the Afcon finals held in Ivory Coast.
Beida is also marked as one of the experienced referees on the continent, having officiated three Afcon matches in Ivory Coast. The matches include Egypt against Mozambique, Angola against Namibia, and Nigeria vs Ivory Coast.
For his part, referee Mahamat has managed to officiate six CAF matches in total since last year. Among the matches, one was the first leg in group D between Yanga and CR Belouizdad in Algiers, where Yanga lost 3-0.
He was also in charge of the first leg of the CAF Champions League between AS Vita Club and Clube Desportivo 1º de Agosto. He has also officiated the Afcon match between Morocco and Tanzania, who lost 3-0 and the 2-2 draw match between Cape Verde and Egypt in Afcon.
The records also show that among them, one is of AFL, two of the CAF Champions League, World Cup qualifier Africa, and two of Afcon. Mahamat has managed to book 24 players with yellow cards, one second yellow, and one straight red card.
Meanwhile, Simba have arrived safely in Egypt ahead of tomorrow’s encounter against Al Ahly. The team will today train at the Cairo International Stadium before facing the Egyptians.
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