Football

MBABANE – Eswatini’s solitary video match official Letticia Antonella Viana is once again set to hoist the country’s flag sky-high on the grandest stage of continental football.

In what is another massive milestone for local officiating, Viana has been officially appointed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as the Assistant Video Assistant Referee (AVAR) for the highly-anticipated CAF Champions League second leg blockbuster clash between South African heavyweights Mamelodi Sundowns and Moroccan giants AS FAR.

According to an official CAF communiqué issued from its Cairo headquarters, the high-stakes match will take place on Sunday, May 24, 2026, at the iconic Rabat-Complexe Sportif Prince Moulay Abdallah in Morocco. The fixture is scheduled to kick off under floodlights at 8pm.

Viana will form part of an elite panel of international match officials selected from across Africa to handle the pressure-cooker environment. The centre referee for the encounter will be Somalia’s Omar Abdulkadir Artan, assisted by Liban Abdoulrazack Ahmed of Djibouti and Stephen Eleazar Onyango Yiembe of Kenya, while Ghana’s Daniel Nii Ayi Laryea will man the hot seat as the primary VAR official alongside the local trailblazing queen.

This high-profile assignment comes as no surprise given Viana’s rapidly ascending and glittering résumé in global football technology. She has quickly become one of the most trusted video match officials on the continent, having recently achieved the historic feat of officiating during the men’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final between Senegal and Morocco in Rabat this past January.

Her exceptional international footprint also includes high-level appointments at the TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) finals, the CHAN tournament and representing the continent as a video official at the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in India.

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Eswatini’s solitary video match official Letticia Antonella Viana (2nd R) is once again set to hoist the country’s flag high. (Courtesy pic)