Friday 26/December/2025 – 12:25 AM
Announce African Union For football, Egyptian referee Mahmoud Ashour was appointed assistant video referee (VAR) against Senegal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the second round of the first round of the 2025 African Cup of Nations in Morocco.
CAF also announced the appointment of Egyptian referee Hossam Azab Haggag as assistant video referee (VAR) against Nigeria and Tunisia, within the same round’s competitions.
Mahmoud Ashour and Hossam Azab are VAR assistants in the matches of Senegal with Congo and Nigeria with Tunisia in the Cup of Nations.
The match between Nigeria and Tunisia in the third group competitions will be managed by Malian referee Babou Traoré, assisted by his compatriot Modibo Samaki, Togolese Jonathan Coffey, and Congolese fourth official Jean-Jacques Ndala, while Senegalese Issa Sy was chosen as a video assistant referee (VAR) and assisted by Houssem Azab.
While the match between Senegal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the fourth group competitions, the Algerian referee Lahlou Ben Brahim will referee him, assisted by his compatriots, assistants Abbas Zahroni and Adel Al-Banna, and the fourth referee, Mustafa Gharbal, while the Libyan Ahmed Abdel Razek Al-Shalmani was chosen as a video assistant referee (VAR), and he is assisted by Mahmoud Ashour.
The two confrontations are among the most prominent summits of the first round, as the teams of Nigeria and Tunisia compete for the top of the third group, after Nigeria won by two goals to one over Tanzania in the first round, and Tunisia’s victory over Uganda by three goals to one in the same round, while the teams of Senegal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo compete for the top of the fourth group, after Senegal won over Botswana 3-0 in the first round, and the Democratic Congo beat Benin with a clean goal in the same round.
