The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has appointed two Nigerian umpires for the table tennis event of Rio 2016 Olympics and Paralympics Games.
The umpires, John Peters and Cecilia Arinye, are part of a total of 47 officials enlisted by ITTF to officiate table tennis games at the tournament.
The duo officiated at the 11th All Africa Games in Brazzaville in 2015.
Peters, the longest-serving table tennis umpire in Nigeria, is billed to oversee games at the Olympics while Arinye, who serves as director of sports at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), will officiate the Paralympics.
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Arinye stands as the first female Nigerian table tennis umpire to officiate in an international competition when she officiated at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
The ITTF also confirmed referees from Algeria and Egypt for the Rio games.
Algerian duo, Mouhssene Yahia-Cherif and Abdellah Boudjehem, will officiate the Olympics and Paralympic Games respectively; Egyptian pair, Magdy Edriss and ElSaied Ragab, oversee the games too, while South Africa’s Rodrique Volkwyn is the deputy referee for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
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Europe has the highest number of referees on duty in Rio 2016 with 15 officials, followed by Asia with 13, and Africa with six umpires.
UMPIRES FOR RIO 2016 GAMES
Africa: Olympics (3), Paralympics (3)
Europe: Olympics (7), Paralympics (8)
Asia: Olympics (6), Paralympics (7)
Latin America : OlympicsAmerica (3), Paralympics (3)
North America: Olympics (2), Paralympics (2)
Oceania: Olympics (1), Paralympics (2)
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