Nigerians protest the appointment of South African officials for Super Eagles playoff match against Gabon

FIFA has named a team of South African match officials to take charge of the Super Eagles’ upcoming World Cup playoff showdown against Gabon, a decision that has triggered widespread criticism among Nigerian fans.

Nigeria will face Gabon on November 13 in one of the semi-final fixtures of the African World Cup playoffs holding in Morocco. The winner will progress to the final to meet either DR Congo or Cameroon for a chance to secure Africa’s sole ticket to the intercontinental playoff.

Tom Abongile of South Africa has been appointed as the centre referee for the encounter. He will be assisted by his compatriot Zakhele Siwela, while Akhona Makalima, also South African, has been assigned to oversee the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) duties. Hughues Ndjovi from Benin Republic will serve as the referee assessor.

The appointments have fueled backlash across Nigerian social media, with many questioning the neutrality of officials from South Africa and Benin — countries that were in the same 2026 World Cup qualifying Group C as Nigeria.

Reacting to the appointments, popular photo-journalist and X user, Suleiman Adebayo, known as Pooja, urged CAF to urgently review the list of match officials. He faulted the decision to appoint South Africans for a fixture involving Nigeria, describing it as insensitive given recent tensions.

“In fairness and sentiments, South African officials shouldn’t be appointed by CAF to officiate Nigeria vs. Gabon in this WC playoffs in Morocco,” he wrote on X.

“A sitting minister in South Africa on tape said he doesn’t want Nigeria to qualify for the WC, and CAF had to appoint South Africans as the centre ref, AR & VR in a game involving Nigeria? Even the Ref Assessor is from the Benin Republic. CAF should rethink this fast,” he added.

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Another X user, Kappo Ebenezer Sewanu, urged the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to intervene, stressing that the matter should not be taken lightly.

Nigeria defeated Benin 4-0 on the final matchday to qualify for the playoffs as one of the four best second-placed teams. South Africa topped the group to automatically secure a World Cup ticket. Earlier in the campaign, South Africa’s qualification was briefly thrown into uncertainty when FIFA voided the team’s win over Lesotho for fielding an ineligible player.

The controversy escalated after South Africa’s Minister of Sports, Gayton McKenzie, publicly blamed Nigeria for the sanction and openly declared he did not want the Super Eagles to qualify for the World Cup.