Rwanda’s Uwikunda, Mutuyimana to officiate CHAN 2023

Rwandan referees Samuel Uwikunda and Dieudonne Mutuyimana have been selected to officiate the forthcoming African Nations Championships slated for January 13 to February 4, 2023, in Algeria. The two are on the list of 37 referees that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced on Monday, December 5, to handle the continental football showpiece which brings together teams with only players playing in their national league competitions. Uwikunda will, alongside 17 other match officials, be officiating the tournament as a centre referee. Mutuyimana will act as an assistant referee. Uwikunda is not new in officiating African football competitions, having previously handled crucial matches in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup as well as the 2021 Under 20 AFCON in Mauritania. Mutuyimana started his refereeing career in 2012, officiating second division games before he was promoted to referee the premier league in 2014. After impressing in crucial games, Rwanda flagged Mutuyimana to participate at the CAF ‘Young Talent Referees Course’ in Uganda in September 2018, during which he passed all exams including medical, physical, theoretical and technical tests. He was the only Rwandan, among 34 African referees, that participated in the course. His performance at the course has since impressed the CAF refereeing committee which decided to hand him tasks to officiate the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederations Cup in 2018. Mutuyimana has also handled crucial games as assistant referee, including matches between rivals APR FC and Rayon Sports, among others. In 2021, he was among the assistant referees that officiated the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations held in Morocco.