Following the appointment of Bakary Papa Gassama as the centre referee for Nigeria’s next World Cup 2018 qualifiers against Algeria, Owngoalnigeria.com takes a look at the number of times he has handled Nigeria.
The Gambian first handled Nigeria in a competitive game on the 2nd of December 2012 in an Olympic qualifiers , ironically the first and only time he has handled a game involving Nigeria and Algeria, and Nigeria won 4-1.
Gassama’s next game involving Nigeria was at the AFCON 2013 quarter-finals with Nigeria thumping Mali 3-1 to progress to the Semi-Finals.
2014 was the last time, he handled a game involving Nigeria and it was the 2014 World Cup Qualifiers between Nigeria and Ethiopia, a game Nigeria won 2-0 on the 16th of November 2013.
Meanwhile he has handled Algeria, three times in the past starting from their 2-1 loss to Nigeria in an Olympic qualifiers, before been in the middle in their 4-0 victory over Rwanda same year.
In 2013 he handled Algeria’s 1-0 loss to Tunisia in an Africa Cup of Nation group game in 2013, while the last time the 37 year old handled a game involving Algeria was a loss to Ivory Coast at the 2015 AFCON.
