A strong piece of advice has gone out for better efforts from Nigerian referees in order for them to get appointments from the continental body, CAF, and global sanctioning authority, FIFA, Sports247 reports.
The call for better efforts by Nigerian match arbiters came from the General Secretary of Lagos State Football Referees Association, Dele Atoun, while speaking on ‘Hot Seat’ segment of ‘Inside Naija Sports,’ a live streaming programme broadcast every Friday, starting at 2:15pm on YouTube.
Atoun stated further in the television studio of Sports Naija that Nigeria has many good referees, who are either badged or not, but urged them to work harder in order to get some of the few slots available at the international level.
He pointed out, “There are various rankings among referees. Some of us wear FIFA badges, which also have different categories.
“Among the white badge referees, we have elite-A, elite-B and elite-C, as well as some FIFA badged referees who are not ranked.
“At the early stage, usually at the start of the year, the level is for everybody. But, when the year progresses, things become tough and it will get to a stage where only the top ones are selected.”
The erudite Lagos referees’ scribe then charged his members to step up their efforts and interactions, in order to be listed among the elite arbiters who would be called upon once a major match or competition comes along.
He declared emphatically, “Once they can be part of the elite-A referees, they would be able to officiate at the highest level of football in CAF and FIFA categories – that is, Africa and the world.”
Atoun concluded by pointing out that Nigerian refs of the present generation have failed to replicate giant strides that were achieved by their legends, hence his charge for more efforts from all match officials who are currently active.
“As of 1986, Festus Okubule was at the U20 World Cup. At that point, there was no West African referee that had got to that top level.
“Up till now, not many African referees have got to that level. So, it’s quite amazing that we had a referee who officiated three matches at the U20 World Cup in 1986, but we have not built on that achievement up to date.
“It also beats my imagination that, as of 1995, we had Bola Abidoye at the Women World Cup, and she was also at the Olympics.
Unfortunately, we have not been able to replicate that achievement.
“We’ve had Chukwujekwu, Imire and Olaniyan at the AFCON, but we did not leverage those achievements in order to produce other people at that level,” Atoun recounted.
