Nigeria will have one representative among the match officials at the 2026 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Qatar after FIFA selected referee Kasimu Abiola Abdulsalam for the tournament.
The 34-year-old is the only Nigerian among the 81 match officials appointed for the competition, which will hold from November 19 to December 13.
Abdulsalam, a FIFA-licensed referee since 2022, is one of four centre referees selected from Africa, alongside eight assistant referees from the continent.
His appointment extends his involvement in age-grade international football, having officiated at two Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments in 2023 and 2026.
The selection also comes four years after Nigerian official Mimisen Iyorhe Calvin Onwuka served as an assistant referee at the 2022 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup.
FIFA chief refereeing officer and chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, Pierluigi Collina, said the officials were selected based on their performances and their ability to operate effectively as part of international teams at major tournaments.
Abdulsalam’s selection comes despite Nigeria’s absence from the playing competition, with the Golden Eaglets failing to progress beyond the West Africa Football Union stage of the qualifiers.
The appointment therefore gives Nigeria representation at the tournament through its officiating team, even though the country will not feature among the competing nations.
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