Football: African Nations Cup 2006 in Egypt-Referee Maillet sets target high |03 December 2005

Maillet broke the news to Sports Nation about his appointment for next year’s African Nations Cup yesterday after returning home from Cairo, Egypt, where he attended an Elite Referees’ seminar from November 23 to 29.

This is going to be Maillet’s second appearance in the African Nations Cup after his debut in Tunisia in 2004 and he took charge of two group matches.

Of the 30 African referees who attended the seminar, 16 have been chosen for the biggest African football rendez-vous slated for Egypt from January 20 to February 10, 2006.

Maillet, who this year refereed the African Champions League’s first round semifinal match between Raja Casablanca of Morocco and Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia, the World Cup 2006 Group One qualifier between Senegal and Mali, as well as two other World Cup qualifiers – Sudan-Benin and Zambia-Congo -, said: “I’m proud to have been given the opportunity to officiate in the African Nations Cup which in my opinion is going to be highly contested.”

“Highly successful African football nations like Cameroon and Nigeria, who failed to qualify for next year’s World Cup in Germany, will be all out to beat underdogs like Togo and Angola who pipped them to the finish line to represent Africa in the biggest football show on earth,” Maillet added.

The 37-year-old, who has been voted Seychelles’ best football referee for the past five consecutive years, revealed to Sports Nation that he wants to take charge of more than two matches this time.

“In 2004, I got an insight of what the African Nations Cup is all about. I’ve gathered a lot of experience along the way and I feel that I’m a much better official.  I’m thus looking forward to take charge of a quarterfinal match or even a semifinal encounter,” Maillet noted.

The countries to have qualified for next year’s African Nations Cup are Egypt, Togo, Senegal, Zambia, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Libya, Angola, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Morocco and Guinea.

Having also refereed the 2003 African Champions League second leg final match, the UEFA Under-16 competition in 2001, the Meridian Cup, the African Under-17 championship and the Under-17 World Cup in Finland, Maillet, who became an international referee in 2001, now has for target the World Cup 2010 to be hosted by South Africa.

“I’m currently ranked 10th in Africa and by 2010, most of the referees who are ranked higher than me in Africa would have reached retirement age. But all will depend on my physical fitness, my ability to continue to deliver on the field. The referee’s Cooper’s test has been replaced by a new physical test which is tougher as emphasis is placed on speed endurance. For example, a referee has to do six times 40m sprints with each run being below 6.4 seconds and 20 times 150m sprints with each run being below 30 seconds and a 40-second recovery time.  There are also many new medical tests and monitored by Fédération internationale de football association (Fifa) representatives,” said Maillet who had words of thanks for the Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) for giving local referees the possibility to organise themselves as a body to better discharge their responsibilities in the smooth running of football here.

It is to note that other than Maillet, Seychelles boasts three other international referees. They are Jacques André, Jourdan Benstrong and Jean-Claude Labrosse.

Jason Damoo, Walter Spiro, Jossy Cedras, Winsley Françoise and David Omath are the five assistant referees who can be called upon for international duty. Philip Sinon is set to resume duties after being injured last year.

G. G.