9.4.2026
Congo DR referee Jean-Jacques Ndala who was at the centre of the fiasco at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations has been dropped from the list of referees that will whistle at 2026 FIFA World Cup, starting in June.
The world football governing body (FIFA) released the lists of match officials for the tournament, with Ndala on of Africa’s best-known referee was not in the list.
At the AFCON final in Rabat Morocco Ndala cancelled out a Senegal scored goal without consulting with VAR room and in injury time he awarded a penalty to the Morocco Lions. Senegal players felt they had enough of his bias officiating and temporally walked off the pitch, however, the game resumed after a 15-minute break.
Morocco eventually took their penalty kick, but it was cheekily saved by Eduardo Mendy. Senegal went to score the winning goal.
Ndala before his questionable outing had been one of CAF’s most reliable referees. He became a FIFA badged referee in 2013.
African referees selected for 2026
FIFA’s final selection of African central referees includes:
Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)
Amin Mohamed Omar (Egypt)
Pierre Ghislain Atcho (Gabon)
Dahane Beida (Mauritania)