The Confederation of African Football has named a mostly North African officiating team for the Black Stars’ 2027 AFCON Group C qualifier, which kicks off at 4pm.
Moroccan referee Mustapha Kechchaf has been appointed to take charge of Ghana's 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Group C qualifier against The Gambia, with kick-off set for 4pm.
The Ghanaian Times reports that Kechchaf will be supported by a largely North African officiating team for the fixture between the Black Stars and the Scorpions.
The officials in full
Kechchaf's compatriot, Lahsen Azgaou, has been named Assistant Referee I, while Yassine Saadaoui of Tunisia takes the Assistant Referee II role. Another Tunisian, Amir Loucif, will act as Fourth Official.
Beyond the officiating team on the pitch, the Confederation of African Football has assigned Liberia's Sekou Wieh Konneh as Match Commissioner. The Match Commissioner is the official responsible for overseeing that the game is staged according to competition rules, from pitch conditions to team arrangements.
Nigeria's Abel Baba will serve as Referee Assessor, meaning he will grade the performance of Kechchaf and his assistants. Assessors' reports feed into decisions on which officials get future continental assignments.
Ghana's Danny Adotey has been given the role of Broadcast Venue Manager, the official who coordinates television and broadcast operations at the stadium.
Why the appointments matter
Appointing neutral officials from outside the two competing countries is standard practice in African international football. It is designed to remove any suggestion of bias, particularly in qualifying groups where results can decide who reaches the tournament.
For Ghana, refereeing decisions in qualifiers have often been a talking point among supporters, and the composition of the officiating team is usually one of the first details fans check once a fixture is confirmed.
What it means for fans abroad
The 4pm kick-off time is significant for Ghanaians following the Black Stars from the United States. Depending on the time zone, that start time falls in the late morning on the East Coast and earlier still on the West Coast, so supporters in the diaspora who want to watch live should plan around a daytime broadcast rather than an evening one.
What happens next
The match forms part of Ghana's Group C campaign in the qualifying series for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, the continent's flagship national team tournament, organised by the Confederation of African Football.
Points from fixtures of this kind determine which teams advance to the final tournament, so the outcome in Group C will shape the Black Stars' route to qualification. Details of the venue, the final squad and the result will follow once the game is played.
