NIGERIA Football Federation president Ibrahim Gusau has expressed disappointment in Nigerian referees for not being considered good enough for the recently concluded AFCON 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.
Gusau today charged the Nigerian referees to make conscious, deliberate efforts to improve from sheer incompetence, flagrant disregard of the rules by some and blatant roguery by a few, through saying the truth to themselves and resolving to uphold their professional tenets while committing to decent conduct.
The NFF chief was speaking in Abuja as 30 different referees were decorated with their FIFA badges to represent Nigeria this year, and he reiterated that a big sore point with the Nigerian football fraternity was the absence of any Nigerian arbiter of any cadre at the African showpiece, where the Super Eagles reached the final.
“The absence of any Nigerian referee of whatever cadre in Cote d’Ivoire remained ‘an elephant in the room’ for most of us that were in Cote d’Ivoire. It is a real shame that we didn’t even have an assistant referee,” Gusau told the referees.
“The CAF Head of Refereeing was quoted at some time saying Nigerian referees are good but they need only the best to handle matches at major tournaments. Are we happy about that?
“I receive complaints/videos about poor officiating in our L
league matches almost every week, and always forward these to the Referees Committee to see that we still have some bad eggs amongst us.
“Some of the decisions I see are simply inexplicable. You must resolve here and now to change your ways and change the narratives about Nigerian referees at home and abroad.”
Gusau disclosed that the NFF has opted to come up with stiffer sanctions for erring match officials.
“To whom much is given, much is expected. We ensured that the NPFL improved indemnities at the beginning of the season, and I have also instructed the General Secretary to start the process of procuring the necessary gadgets for our referees,” he noted.
“But anyone caught disgracing the uniform, the refereeing body and by extension Nigerian football, will be thrown into a permanent cooler. We want to see you people officiating at top continental championships and we will not sit idly by while some incorrigible ones destroy all that vision.”
Earlier, Chairman of the NFF Referees Committee, Mrs Faith Irabor, admitted that the Gusau administration has been excellent in responding to the demands of referees since coming into office, and promised that all that is necessary will be done to restore Nigerian refereeing to its pride of place on the continent.
A total of 30 individuals were decorated, including seven male referees, seven male assistant referees, four female referees, four female assistant referees, four beach soccer referees and four futsal referees.
One of the beach soccer referees, Jelili Ogunmuyiwa, is presently on duty at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup ongoing in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates while Musa Dung Davou is on his way to the FIFA Futsal World Cup finals.
PHOTO: NFF president Ibrahim Gusau in a group photo with other dignitaries and the decorated referees today.
