The president of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau has revealed that a plan is in the pipeline to train some of the country’s match officials in how to effectively operate Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
Sports247 reports that Gusau also put forward a suggestion that all referees in the country must be computer literate and equally advocated a situation in which they start young.
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He declared the need for a better process in the recruitment of match arbiters during a courtesy visit paid to his office by the new executive committee of Nigeria Referees Association (NRA).
While urging the need for modernisation of refereeing in Nigeria, Gusau, who is also West African Football Union (WAFU) B president, hinted that the NFF will train at least 10 arbiters on the proper use of VAR technology.
Gusau commiserated with the NRA over the death of their immediate past president, Honourable Sani Zubair, who was also the head of NFF Refereeing Unit and charged the new board to effectively face the issues of age, academics and computer literacy.
“I believe that no serious recruitment drive for referees should accept people who are above a certain age. Perhaps we should even look at recruiting persons from the level of junior secondary schools.
“We will be wasting our time and the time of the system by recruiting persons above the age of 14. When will the referee rise to Grade 1, and then onwards to FIFA level? There is also the imperative for computer literacy.
“These days, referees must file reports extending to many pages. The NFF is ready to provide support, but this is something that the executive council must take to the Congress of referees and pass as a resolution,” Gusau submitted.
