CAF Appoints Nigeria’s Yemisi Akintoye as Referee for WAFCON 2026
The Nigerian FIFA official earned her place on the tournament’s officiating team after clearing CAF’s mandatory medical, fitness, and technical assessments.
Want our football coverage to show up first?
Add FootballInNigeria as a preferred source and our stories get a "Preferred" badge in your Google Top Stories, AI Overviews, and AI Mode results.
Nigerian FIFA referee Yemisi Akintoye has been named by the Confederation of African Football as one of the match officials for the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, marking her first appearance at the continent’s flagship women’s football tournament.
Akintoye secured her spot on the officiating panel after passing CAF’s required medical, fitness, and technical evaluations, confirming her standing among the continent’s top rated referees.
The appointment is a notable moment for Nigerian officiating more broadly, coming at a time when Nigerian referees have had relatively limited representation at major CAF tournaments in recent years. Akintoye was also recently appointed to referee the women’s final of the 2026 President Federation Cup between Heartland Queens and Nasarawa Amazons, underlining her growing profile domestically ahead of the continental assignment.
With WAFCON 2026 fast approaching, Akintoye is set to officiate at a tournament that has expanded to 16 teams for the first time and now doubles as Africa’s qualifying route to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
Did You Know?
- Yemisi Akintoye is a FIFA-listed Nigerian referee.
- She was recently appointed to officiate the women’s final of the 2026 President Federation Cup between Heartland Queens and Nasarawa Amazons.
- This marks her first appointment at a Women’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
- WAFCON 2026 is being hosted in Morocco and features 16 teams for the first time in the tournament’s history.
- Nigeria are the defending WAFCON champions and record 10 time winners of the competition.
- WAFCON 2026 also serves as Africa’s qualifying tournament for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
- CAF requires all referees to pass medical, fitness, and technical assessments before being cleared for major tournament appointments.
