Sikazwe announced his retirement from refereeing at the age of 43 on December 23, 2022, at the Football House in Lusaka where stated that he decided to retire in order to provide room for younger Zambian referees to take over the reins from him because he is not getting any younger.
On January 7, 2023, he officiated his farewell match in the Zambian Super League between Napsa Stars FC and Red Arrows at National Heroes stadium where he was given a guard of honor by both teams and officials.
The 43-year-old referee, who is Zambia’s most successful referee in history, having officiated at the FIFA World Cup twice in 2018 and 2022, revealed during the official announcement of his retirement that the northern part of Africa is the most difficult region to officiate, and that’s where CAF rates the performance of African referees.
“In the Northern parts of Africa, that’s where they test referees if you didn’t know. It is tough; it’s different from the southern parts of Africa,” Sikazwe told Journalists at the Football house in Lusaka.
“When you see CAF assigning a referee to North Africa, just know that he or she is a tough-tested official.”
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In his recent interview with SuperSport Tv, he disclosed that his controversial decision to end the match between Tunisia and Mali prematurely at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations was not the worst match in his career because he suffered from heat stroke, which could have ended his life.
Sikazwe blew the whistle after just 85 minutes and then again 17 seconds before 90 minutes were up —setting up a global uproar.
However, that was not the first time he was found in the middle of a controversy in a match involving North African teams. In 2018, Caf suspended the Zambian referee on suspicion of corruption following the way he handled the Caf Champions League match between Esperance and Agosto which the Tunisian side won 4-2, and he admitted that it was the worst experience of his career.
Sikazwe awarded a controversial penalty that led to Esperance’s first goal after judging Algerian forward Mohamed Belaili to have been fouled by Agosto defender Jose Macaia before disallowing Agosto’s Bobo Ungenda’s goal in the second half after Esperance goalkeeper Rami Jridi was ruled to have been pushed by Mingo Bille in the process.
Esperance’s winning goal in that match came when scorer Anice Badri appeared to have infringed on an Agosto defender attempting to clear the danger, which landed the celebrated Zambian official in trouble and a subsequent suspension by CAF.
Since that game, Sikazwe has gained a reputation as a villain in North Africa, particularly among Esperance rivals. The center referee for the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup final between Real Madrid and Kashima Antlers claimed that only trusted referees are deployed to officiate in that part of Africa.
