Confederation of African Football has named experienced Koman Coulibaly of Mali as the referee for Friday's 2015 African Cup of Nations crunch match between Algeria and Ghana, GHANAsoccernet.com can exclusively reveal.
The 44-year-old, officiating at his seventh Nations Cup tournament, will take charge of the Group C match to be played in Mongomo.
Coulibaly, who was in charge when Ghana lost 1-0 to Egypt in the final of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, is one of Africa's highly experienced referees having officiated at the World Cup and also worked as a FIFA instructor.
Having expressed reservations about refereeing before the start of the competition, Algeria coach Gourcuff was reassured by the performance of Ivorian official Noumandiez during their 3-1 win over South Africa on Monday.
The Desert Foxes will are keen on the performance of Malian Coulibaly as they seek qualification to the quarter-finals.
However, Coulibaly has been a divisive figure in some major African matches in the past.
He awarded Cameroon a controversial stoppage time penalty in their final 2006 World Cup qualifier against Egypt in Yaounde that, had they converted, would have qualified them for the finals. The kick was missed.
There is also a facebook page, set up by angry Tunisian fans, calling for his removal from the FIFA panel after controversial performances against their team.