GAMBIA’S PAPA GASSAMA SET TO TAKE STAGE IN THE AFCON TOURNAMENT IN CAMEROON VS COMOROS CLASH

The Gambia’s Papa Bakary Gassama set to stage in the upcoming AFCON 2019 tournament in Cairo Egypt in June 21 2019 . Papa has been outstanding in his performance since been Acknowledged as Fifa referee.

The celebrated African referee Papa Is amongst the three referees selected from west Africa to take part in the games in cairo. The 2016 African Referee of the Year will lead a team of match officials when Cameroon square-off against Comoros at the Amadou Ahidjo Stadium in a group B decider.

The complete officiating team contains the following names;

Referee: Bakary Papa Gassama-Gambia

1st Assistant:Abdul Aziz Jawo-Gambia

2nd Assistant: Omar Darboe-Gambia

Reserved Referee: Maudo Jallow-Gambia

Match Commissioner: Oumar Diop- Senegal

Referees Assesor: Linus Ochechukwu Mba- Nigeria

Secretary: Khalid. -Tunisia

Gassama became a FIFA referee in 2007. He officiated at the 2012 Olympic tournament,in which he was the fourth official for the gold medal match between Mexico and Brazil. He also served as a referee at the 2012 and 2013 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, as well as the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

In March 2013, FIFA named Gassama as one of the fifty potential referees for the 2014 World Cup. On 15 January 2014, FIFA announced that he would be one of the 25 referees for the tournament. His assistants were announced to be Evarist Menkouandé and Felicien Kabanda. He officiated the third group stage match in group B between the Netherlands and Chile on 23 June 2014. He officiated the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final match on 8 February 2015 between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.

On 27 April 2017, Gassama was selected as CAF’s sole referee for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia. His assistants were announced to be Jean Claude Birumushahu (Burundi) and Marwa Range (Kenya), and his video assistant referee was appointed to be Malang Diedhiou (Senegal). His only match at the competition was the Group A match between Mexico and New Zealand on 21 June 2017.

On 29 March 2018, FIFA announced that he will officiate some matches at 2018 FIFA World Cup along with Jean-Claude Birumushahu and Marwa Range as assistant referees.

2018/2019 Season

Caf Champions League Appearance 4 times

Saudi Professional League 4 times

Kings cup 1 time

He has played a total of nine international games in all in which he issued 29 yellows, 3 times send of players after 2 yellow cards and 1 straight red card.