Kenyan whistleblower to officiate at the AFCON Under-20

Kenyan referee Dr. Waweru Kamaku has been named among the 12 officials that will officiate the 21st edition of the Africa Under-20 Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Niger from February 2 to 17.

The whistleblower, who is also a lecturer of Pure and Applied Mathematics at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), has previously officiated the CAF Champions League, Confederation Cup, AFCON qualifiers as well as several international matches.

The tournament will be the first big assignment for the official, who, apart from the above mentioned, has also officiated matches in domestic competitions. His last big match in the referee’s jersey was the CAF Confederation Cup playoff first leg match pitting Libyan side Ahli Benghazi and Nasr Athletic Hussein Dey of Algeria in Tunisia, on January 11.

“I am very grateful and happy for the opportunity to preside over the U-20 AFCON tournament.It is my first huge tournament and it is an honour to be part of the 12 referees picked from across Africa,” said Kamaku on being appointed as an official in the tournament.

Kenya, however, will not participate in the tournament as they were knocked out by RwandA in the preliminary stage. Qualified teams include Burundi, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and the hosts. The top four teams in the tournament will qualify for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup to be hosted by Poland later this year.

Kamaku is hopeful that this opportunity will open doors to more opportunities probably at the international arena. “I am optimistic the experience gained from AFCON will propel me to the global level,” Kamaku commented.