The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has appointed Josephine Wanjiku from Kenya as the referee for the upcoming FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup qualifier between Nigeria’s Flamingos and South Africa’s Bantwana. The match is scheduled for Saturday, March 8, at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Pretoria, kicking off at 3:00 pm South African time (2:00 pm Nigerian time).

The fixture is the first leg of the second-round qualifier. Nigeria, the 2022 FIFA U17 World Cup bronze medallists, received a bye to the second round, while Bantwana secured their spot by defeating Gabon with a resounding 21-2 aggregate victory, winning 12-1 away and 9-1 at home.

In addition to Wanjiku, CAF has appointed her compatriots:

    •    Mary Njoroge as Assistant Referee 1
    •    Elizabeth Njoroge as Assistant Referee 2
    •    Juma Lucy Awino as the Fourth Official

Cindy Barbara Dludlu from eSwatini will serve as the match commissioner, while Khadija Rezzag from Morocco will be the referee assessor.

The return leg will take place at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne-Remo, Nigeria, on Saturday, March 15. The team with the better aggregate score will advance to the third round of the qualification series.

This year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, which now becomes an annual event, will be hosted by Morocco from October 17 to November 8. The tournament has also been expanded to feature 24 teams, with Africa fielding five representatives, including host nation Morocco.

The Flamingos, who reached the quarter-finals at the 2022 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic, have been training at the Remo Stars Institute in Ikenne-Remo in preparation for their encounter against Bantwana.