The Confederation of African Football (CAF) seem to have made a turnaround in their decision to appoint Victor Gomes as referee for the Africa Cup of Nations final between Senegal and Algeria.
Alioum Alioum from Cameroon will now be the referee taking charge of the final set to be played in Cairo on Friday night. He will be assisted by his compatriots Evarist Menkouande and Elvis Guy Noupue Nguegoue. Eric Arnaud Otogo Castane.
In a statement made on Wednesday, SAFA congratulated Gomes for being awarded the final: "We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Victor on his huge appointment of being in charge of the 2019 Afcon final – this is big by any means, and we are confident he will do a magnificent job," said Tenda Masikhwa, the head of department: referees at the SA Football Association.
"This move by Caf speaks volumes about South African match officials – as we have always maintained that they are held in high esteem on the continent for the good work they are doing."
It's unclear why the change has been made, while SAFA have since removed the statement from their social media page as well as the website.
South African assistant referee Zakhele Siwela, meanwhile, will be the third assistant video referee for the final.