No Africans named among 22 match officials for rugby sevens at Olympics

No African rugby referees at Tokyo Olympics

JOHANNESBURG, April 19 (ANA) – There were no African officials announced over the weekend, in a list of 22 confirmed referees set to do duty in the rugby sevens competition at the Tokyo Olympics in July.

The tournament will take place from July 26 to 31 at Tokyo Stadium.

Though the referees were drawn from 12 different countries across four continents, there was no place made for a single African official. There will be eight women and 14 men referees tasked with wearing the whistle at the quadrennial showpiece.

The individuals were selected by the World Rugby’s Match Official Selection Committee following a comprehensive review of performances and fitness.

All selected referees have proven themselves on the annual World Rugby Sevens Series and many also featured at Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 in San Francisco and the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

The group also includes five internationals who have swapped the playing shirt for the whistle.

Selica Winiata is a current Black Ferns player who has been capped 40 times and is aiming to compete at the Rugby World Cup on home soil next year.

She was a Rugby World Cup winner in 2017, scoring two tries in the final at her second Rugby World Cup. She is also a former Black Ferns Sevens player, becoming Rugby World Cup Sevens champion in 2013, and runner-up in 2009.

She has since refereed at four events on the World Rugby Sevens Series and impressed when refereeing at the Oceania Rugby Women’s Sevens Championship in November 2019. – African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman