Jean-Fidèle Diramba (15 June 1952 – 5 January 2022) was a former football referee from the African state of

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

. He is known for having officiated the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. Diramba officiated the 1990 Africa Cup of Nations Final in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

between

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

and

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

.Algérie 1-0 Nigéria
Jean-Fidele Diramba was the referee in a World Cup USA '1994 qualifying match between

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

and

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 ...

. Morocco won the match 1-0. The officiating created a lot of controversy from the Zambian side due to a number of decisions. Being from Gabon, off whose coast the Zambian team perished, increased the tensions since the Gabonese allegedly were impeding the progress of the investigation into the airplane crash. Protests were held in Lusaka the following day. FAZ (Football Association of Zambia) filed a protest with

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

regarding the incident but complained about matters other than the refereeing. This action was not brought under scrutiny. Diramba is an amateur golfer. He played in the

2008 Eisenhower Trophy The 2008 Eisenhower Trophy took place 16–19 October at Royal Adelaide Golf Club and on the West course at The Grange Golf Club in Adelaide, Australia. It was the 26th World Amateur Team Championship for the Eisenhower Trophy and the second to b ...

References

External links

SOCCER: World Cup USA '94 QUALIFYING; Zambia's Quest to Qualify Is Unfulfilled
1952 births Living people Gabonese football referees Olympic football referees 21st-century Gabonese people {{Gabon-footy-bio-stub