New kid on the block Ivan Kintu Bayige’s shining star is taking him places. Fresh from winning the FUFA referee of the year award last Friday at Speke Resort Munyonyo, Bayige is not taking things for granted.
Before the awards, Bayige has already received communication from CAF informing him of his selection as one of the referees who will officiate at the 2nd edition of the Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations 2016 in Nigeria running from 13th-18th December.
The 29 year old Bayige, will be the only Ugandan referee assigned for duty at the continental show piece. The just concluded Africa women Nations Championship in Cameroon didn’t have any Uganda representation in the refereeing area while the 2017 AFCON Finals in Gabon will not have any either.
Bayige is one of the three Beach Soccer referees in Uganda (the other two are; Senteza Muhammad and Shafic Mugerwa). Bayige beat seasoned FIFA referees Brian Nsubuga Miiro and Mark Ssonko to the award last Friday.
Bayige has embarked on rigorous training as he tunes himself up for the 2nd edition of the Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations 2016.
Bayige started refereeing in 2013 after being spotted by Hamid Juma (the then Chairman of Beach Soccer and Futsal Committee) and he says he got the inspiration to push on in the game from great names in the sport like Ali Mwebe who the only Certified CAF Beach Soccer Instructor in Uganda.
Bayige attained the FIFA badge in 2015 and he has gone on to officiate at international level (AFCON Beach soccer qualifiers in 2015 Mauritius vs Mozambique, Mauritius vs Ivory Coast), Beach Soccer World wide African Championship in Durban, South Africa.
As 2016 winds up, he will be in Nigeria but he has already handled Tanzania vs Ivory Coast and Madagascar vs Mozambique all in the 2016 AFCON qualification campaign.
Full list of referees (12) to Nigeria
Ivan Kintu Bayige (Uganda)
Driss Lamghaidar (Morocco)
Jelili Ogunmuyiwa (Nigeria)
Sani Mohammed (Nigeria)
Mbokh Baye (Senegal)
Louis Kersley Steven Siave (Mauritius)
Yahya Adel Ghani (Libya)
Hanny Farouk El Eraky (Egypt)
Wael Mohamed Mostafa (Egypt)
Samir Nassur Hachim (Madagascar)
Hussain Hasaballa Abdalla (Sudan)
Issam Bousbih (Tunisia)
MAIN PHOTO: Ivan Kintu Bayige on duty at one of the National beach soccer league matches at Lido in Entebbe. He has grown in leaps and bounds to attain the best referee award in Uganda. He is the only Ugandan referee who has been assigned to officiate at the 2nd edition of the Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations 2016 in Nigeria running from 13th-18th December in Nigeria.
