TOKYO 2020 women’s football event official, Patience Madu, is the leading match official for the Aisha Buhari Invitational Women’s Tournament.
The tournament will be held in Lagos from this Wednesday to Tuesday next week.
Six of Africa’s top women’s national teams, led by hosts and nine-time continental champions Nigeria, will feature in the tournament, also known as the Aisha Buhari Cup.
The other teams are Ghana, South Africa, Cameroon, Mali and Morocco.
Madu was one of the five African referees that officiated the Tokyo Olympics quarter-final match between the United States of America and Australia.
She has also been at the centre for top men’s matches, including Nigeria Professional Football League fixtures.
Madu heads a list that has seven referees, eight assistant referees and eight members of the Referees Commission which includes two assessors, two match commissioners, one technical instructor, one physical instructor, one ICT person and a masseur.
Madu is the only Nigerian centre referee on the list.
Other centre referees are Juliet Appiah (Ghana), Marie Diangha (Cameroon), Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco), Vicentia Amedomè (Togo), Zouwaira Souley (Niger Republic) and Christelle Aurore (Benin Republic).
Assistant referees are Mary Tei (Ghana), Beauty Kabenda Terah (Nigeria), Victorine Bahane (Cameroon), Ennouajeli Ihssane (Morocco), Mfon Akpan Friday (Nigeria), Adbedanou Abra Sitsofé (Togo), Douno Moussa Hawa (Niger Republic), Bio Bangana Djaria (Benin Republic).
The tournament will be played at two venues in Lagos, the rebuilt Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Onikan and the Agege Stadium on the heart of the bustling Agege on the mainland.
