LEAGUES CUP
Who is Oshane Nation, the referee for Columbus Crew - LAFC in the 2024 Leagues Cup final?
The Jamaican official has managed three games already in this year’s Leagues Cup and will oversee the final at Lower.com Field.
The 2024 Leagues Cup final brings together Columbus Crew and LAFC in a rematch of last year’s MLS Cup. The two teams play a thrilling, but nicely contrasted, style of play with excitement aplenty whenever they meet.
This time around, the man in the middle with be Oshane Nation, a CONCACAF referee with considerable experience in this competition. Nation was born in Jamaica in 1991, making him 33 years old. Despite his relatively young age he has racked up plenty of experience, including overseeing three games already in this year’s Leagues Cup.
The Jamaican official has a very recent history with the Crew, who host Sunday’s final. Nation was also at Lower.com Field back in April as the Crew secured a famous CONCACAF Champions Cup victory over Liga MX giants Monterrey.
LIVE: Columbus Crew - LAFC | Leagues Cup final
Oshane Nation’s record in CONCACAF
Now in his fifth season as a match referee in the Champions Cup/Champions League. Before the semi-final meeting between the Crew and Monterrey, Nation took charge of Rayados’ 3-0 first-leg win over Dominicans Atlético Pantoja in the last 16 in 2021 - a season in which the Mexicans won their most recent CONCACAF title. Meanwhile, Nation also took charge of an earlier Crew game, when he oversaw the Americans’ 1-1 draw with countrymen Houston Dynamo in the second leg of the last 16.
In the 2021 final of the CONCACAF League - a now-defunct second-tier club competition - he was the whistler for the first leg of Guatemalans Comunicaciones’ 6-3 aggregate victory over Hondurans Motagua. That same year, he was also appointed to Columbus’ 2-1 win over Cruz Azul in the Campeones Cup, a trophy contested by the winners of the MLS and Mexico’s super cup, the Campeón de Campeones.
At international level, Nation was handed the 2021 CONCACAF Nations League semi-final, in which eventual tournament winners the USMNT defeated Honduras 1-0. He is a recognised CONCACAF official and has overseen major senior games on numerous occasions.