The FIFA Referees Committee has confirmed the appointment of 88 match officials from over 40 countries to officiate at the Olympic Football Tournament Rio 2016 and there was no Nigeria of the ten from CAF.
The men’s competition will see 18 referees and 32 assistant referees officiate and at the women’s tournament, 14 referees and 24 assistant referees will be on duty. In both competitions, all six FIFA Confederations will be represented.
The Olympic Football Tournament Rio 2016 represents the first important step on the road to the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 and the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 for match officials.
In April two FIFA training seminars on refereeing took place in Doha, Qatar and Miami, Florida respectively. Hosted by FIFA’s Head of Refereeing Massimo Busacca. the seminars brought male and female referees together for the first time in FIFA’s history and saw them take part in various activities together, including theoretical classroom sessions and practical sessions on the pitch. Some of the selected Olympic Football Tournament match officials attended the events.