Peter Waweru is set to be the first Kenyan Centre Referee to officiate a match at the Africa Cup of Nations. Waweru has been appointed by CAF to run proceedings in Namibia’s final Group D match against Ivory Coast on Monday night. He will be assisted by yet another Kenyan, Gilbert Cheruiyot, and Souru Phatsoane from Lesotho.
Waweru, who was raised to Fifa referee in March 2017, is a lecturer of Pure and Applied Mathematics at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).
This is the biggest tournament for the Kenyan Whistleblower, who has handled Caf Champions League, Confederation Cup matches, African Cup of Nation qualifiers, several international friendly matches among others. He is also known in Kenya for officiating several domestic competitions like the Kenya Premier League and National Super League.
Gilbert Cheruiyot, on the other hand, was elevated to the position of FIFA referee and has handled many international games including Champions League and Caf Confederation Cup matches.
On 16 April 2019, Waweru was among the 27 centre referees that were announced to officiate this year’s AFCON tournament while Cheruiyot made it to the list of 29 assistant referees.
The Kenyan duo will showcase their professionalism as this will be an absolute test to climb the ladder higher.