Namibia: CAF Youth Champs an Eye Opener

29 April 2011

Namibian assistant referee, David Shaanika officiated at the ongoing CAF African Youth Championships in South Africa last week.

Upon his return on Tuesday afternoon, Shaanika stated that the competition is of high standard and was an eye-opener.

“The training of referees and the whole set-up were just memorable and I learned a lot indeed. It was an amazing experience,” he said.

Shaanika left for the championship on Sunday, 23 April and was involved in two crucial games. He was on the line in the match between South Africa and Lesotho which the host nation won 2-1 in Group A and was also involved in the group decider match between Egypt and South Africa. Egypt won the game 1-0 to all but confirm their place at the FIFA under-20 World Cup in Colombia later this year, together with other semifinalists Mali, Cameroon and Nigeria.

“Especially the final match that I did was crucial and I was so focused, because of what was at stake and how good everyone would need and have to be on such a match,” explained Shaanika.

He however returned home to give way to the two assistants from Ghana and South Africa who were not involved in the group stages because of their countries involvement.

Meanwhile, three Namibian FIFA-accredited match officials will head for the 10th edition of the CAF All Africa Games I to be hosted by Zimbabwe from Thursday, 28 April to 2 May.

The officials are referee Reinhold Shikongo and assistants Alpheus Shipanga and Hendrik Swartbooi.

AllAfrica – All the Time