The Minister of Sports Development, Sen. John Enoh, has challenged Nigerian referees to deepen and strengthen their professionalism to attract greater participation in FIFA and CAF-flagged competitions.
Speaking during his interactive session with the 2024 FIFA Member Association Refereeing Development Course, the minister regretted that Nigerian referees are not playing critical roles in both FIFA and CAF-flagged competitions as a result of failure to reach the performance and professional threshold set out by both international bodies.
He stated that FIFA and CAF’s neglect and marginalization of Nigerian referees in the standing order is unacceptable.
Enoh promised that the current administration would do everything within its power to reverse the ugly trend.
In a statement on Thursday by the Special Assistant on Media, Diana-Mary Nsan, the Minister said his engagement with the referees was part of ongoing efforts to get to the root of the problem and proffer solutions to solve it.
He recalled that on his assumption of office as minister, one of the early engagements that he initiated was to invite referees and critical stakeholders in sports for a parley when his attention was drawn to the fact that no Nigerian referee was considered qualified enough to officiate in the just concluded CAF-flagged African Cup of Nations.
He said, “I thought that this was unacceptable. It was for this reason that I started a series of engagements with referee associations, the NFF, and other critical stakeholders.
“Sadly, even in the next AFCON, no Nigerian referee was listed to participate in officiating duties by CAF. This is a shame. As a country, it is important that we get the right things that we are not doing right to change this ugly narrative.”
He challenged the elite referees to raise the bar in terms of their commitment to improving their professionalism, adding that the government is ready to support and work closely with them to put an end to this neglect.
Responding to the Minister, the lead FIFA Technical Instructor, Mr. Felix Tangwarinma, thanked the Minister for his commitment to the development of Nigerian referees.
He observed that not too long ago, Nigerian referees were doing very well as officials in international competitions but regretted that lack of continuity left a huge gap when they retired.
The FIFA Technical Instructor stated that that training was part of ongoing efforts to close the gap.
He explained that one of the major problems that impacted the relegation of Nigerian referees in FIFA and CAF organized competitions is the fact that, presently, no Nigerian referee is certified to officiate with VAR.
According to him, Nigeria must train its referees with VAR to meet FIFA and CAF’s requirements for the number of hours needed to officiate in championships.
The FIFA instructor informed the Minister that the VAR equipment was very expensive to procure.
Given the significant financial resources, he urged the sports ministry to provide financial support, as the NFF might not have the resources to purchase the necessary number of VARs for the national league.
In the interim, he suggested that Nigeria can bridge the gap by sending referees for VAR training to countries like Morocco and Tunisia while it puts its house in order.
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