Janny Sikazwe (born 1979) is a former

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

. He got his big break in 2008 at

COSAFA U-20 Challenge Cup The COSAFA Under 20 Challenge is an annual tournament for teams from Southern Africa organized by COSAFA. Participants Teams that can technically enter are: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * . Past winners The event scheduled f ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

when he was called to replace another referee who had failed a fitness test. On 7 January 2023 he officiated his last career match between Napsa Stars and Red Arrows. He was one of the referees for the

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was orga ...

. He refereed the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup Final When in Japan, and the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations Final in Gabon. He was selected to officiate at the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

in Russia, and made his debut in the Belgium vs Panama Group G game on 18 June. The match also saw him going into the record books as he became the first Zambian referee to officiate a game at the FIFA World Cup finals. Sikazwe also refereed at the

2021 Africa Cup of Nations The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2021 or CAN 2021), known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's foo ...

, where he came under scrutiny for incorrectly calling for full-time twice in the Group F game between Mali and Tunisia on 12 January 2022: firstly at the 86th minute, and again before the 91st minute by about 17 seconds. He announced the return of the match after 25 minutes of stopping to complete three minutes, but the Tunisian team refused to complete it. A forensic report stated that Sikazwe suffered

heat stroke Heat stroke or heatstroke, also known as sun stroke, is a severe heat illness that results in a body temperature greater than , along with red skin, headache, dizziness, and confusion. Sweating is generally present in exertional heatstroke, ...

, which contributed to his mishandling of the match.

References

External links

Janny Sikazwe at WorldReferee.com
Living people 1979 births Zambian football referees People from Kapiri Mposhi District 2018 FIFA World Cup referees 2022 FIFA World Cup referees FIFA World Cup referees {{Zambia-footy-bio-stub