Zambia vs Kenya: 5 Things to Know About Gambian Referee Set to Officiate CHAN 2024 Group A Match in Kasarani

Gambian referee Lamin N Jammeh will be the man in the limelight this Sunday, August 17, 2025, as he officiates match number 32 of 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) Group A between Zambia and Kenya.

The game kicks off at 3pm at Moi International Sports Center in Nairobi, and it is expected to be one of the most watched games of the group stage.

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Jammeh, who has persistently become more prominent within the Confederation of African Football (CAF), will lead a seasoned refereeing team.

The meeting assistant will be Burkina Faso's Habib Judicael Oumar Sanou, second assistant Benin's Salim Alao, fourth official Tunisia's Mehrez Melki, and commissioner South Sudan's Makur Majok Kariom Mabil.

Pulse Sports takes a look at five things you need to know about the man entrusted with refereeing this crucial Group A match.

Lamin N Jammeh began officiating humbly in 2008 after he offered to referee local football games known as Nawettan in his hometown of Brikama, Gambia.

His calmness and consistency did not escape the attention of the Gambia Football Federation (GFF) Referees Committee.

By 2012, he had been promoted to the GFF Second Division, where he spent a brief period learning the ropes. In the same year, he was invited for his first FIFA MA Course, which exposed him to international refereeing standards and opened the doors to his further development.

What is characteristic of Jammeh's early career is his unshakeable commitment. The majority of referees fall off after experience at the grassroots level, but Jammeh employed his humble start as a stepping stone to a fantastic career, proving that modest starts can rule the world.

By 2016, Jammeh had risen to Gambia's Division One League, the pinnacle of domestic football in his country.

His efforts soon landed him awards, including in 2018 the Sports Journalists Association of The Gambia's "Best Referee Award." The award was a validation of his building reputation as one of the country's most consistent match officials.

Later the same year, Jammeh was invited to join the CAF/FIFA Promising Referees course in Cairo, Egypt. The intensive course proved to be instrumental, as it provided him with technical finesse and tactical awareness to referee high-pressure games on the continental level.

The experience in Cairo did not just make him technically proficient—it also widened his connections among Africa's budding referees. These connections, together with determination, ensured that Jammeh would not remain confined to local football for too long.

In 2019, Jammeh made one of the biggest accomplishments in the life of a referee when he received the FIFA badge. The certification officially opened doors for him to officiate in international games, which allowed him to referee beyond Gambian coastlines.

In that one year, he officiated two games of CAF Champions League and a Confederation Cup qualifier, performances which earned him commendations from CAF's referee assessors. How he handled high-tension matches all over North and West Africa showed he had the ability to remain calm and firm when under pressure.

Jammeh was also selected to go through the CAF/FIFA New Referees course and officiated four matches in the WAFU Zone A U20 Tournament in Guinea. Most notably was that he was a fourth official in the final match between Senegal and Mali, another indication of his ranking as one of CAF's top young referees.

By his figures in the competitions, Jammeh's style is read as tight but calculated.

Throughout the 2023/24 season, he managed seven matches for World Cup Qualifiers, CAF Champions League, Confederation Cup, CAF Qualifying, and CHAN. In each of those matches, he issued 30 yellow cards—a rate of 4.3 per game—without sending a red card.

These figures reveal that Jammeh would rather command by force without the application of dismissals, dictating games in most cases by presence and communication rather than ruthlessness. Even in most tense meetings, he has proved capable of keeping the game moving while showing discipline.

In the 2024/25 season so far, his game appears more controlled. In two Confederation Cup games, he has made just three yellow cards—1.5 per match.

This is added maturity and a reputation for fairness, traits that will shine in the Zambia v Kenya Group A game.

Among peers, Jammeh is also affectionately referred to as Castin, but within African football, he is increasingly being seen as the natural heir to Bakary Papa Gassama, Africa's most capped referee.

Gassama's international reputation, including his appearances at the World Cups, set a benchmark for Gambian referees, and Jammeh has said he plans to stay along that line.

His goal, as he often describes, is to be a "Knight of the Whistle"—an African referee held in respect at the top of world football. Each appointment at senior tournament level, in tournaments like CHAN, takes him closer to the dream, while his gradual progression on CAF and FIFA pathways suggests that he is firmly on track.

For Gambian football, Jammeh's rise is not only personal—it is an indication of stability.

While Gassama carried the Gambian flag to the international arena, so too is Jammeh doing it now, making sure that Gambian refereeing remains respected in Africa and the world.