After a good start last week, members of the Nigeria Referees Association, NRA, who are on duty for the NPFL matches this Sunday are set to deliver quality officiating.
President of the NRA, Otunba Tade Azeez gave this assurance adding that the association in conjunction with the Referees Committee of the NFF have put everything in place to ensure match officials excel.
He only asked for teams and officials to be acquainted with no just the Laws of the Game, LoTG, but also the latest amendments by IFAB and FIFA as his men and women will handle the game in accordance with the rules.
The match 11 of the week 2 fixture; Shooting Stars vs Akwa United in Ibadan has one of the reliable hands in the country, Faisal Inuwa as the referee. Apart from undergoing FIFA Listing excercise, the arbiter from Bauchi was one of the few privileged Elite referees in Nigeria who took part in this year’s high intensive FIFA MA Course in Abuja few months ago. Faisal assisted on lines by a Fifa referee from Kebbi council, Bello Alhasan from Kebbi council and Gombe’s Nura Alli is expected to deploy his weight of experience and all learnt during the various courses to the field of play. The Assessor for the game is the spokesperson of the NRA who is also a Referee Assessor, Kelechi Mejuobi.
In the other tough fixture at Nnewi, Anambra state, the adopted home ground of Rangers, for the Oriental Derby against Enyimba FC of Aba, an experienced and seasoned referee with rich pedigree in handling derbies, Jelili Ogunmuyiwa, who is also a Beach Soccer Fifa referee from Lagos will be the cynosure of eyes in the game while his counterpart from Lagos, a woman international referee, Fifa Yemisi Akintoye takes charge of another crucial encounter in Kaduna; Kano Pillars vs Lobi Stars. While the Mohd Zango of Kano and Auwal Usman are assistants at Nnewi for Ogunmuyiwa, Akintoye has Kenneth Onyiro and Ajiboye Osumah of Abia and Edo councils respectively. A woman and National Physical Fitness Instructor, Miriam Indo of Bauchi will oversee the performance of the refereeing team in Kano.
Two other interesting encounters in the week 2 fixtures have capable referees on the beat. In the North Central derby in Jos, another good hand from the Rivers Council, Isaac Ogaba will be incharge while the chairman of Bauchi Referees Council, Ibrahim Zailani is their Assessor comprising Ogun’s Ojeleye Sola and Abba Baba Dada of Yobe as assistants in the top of the bill cracker Plateau United vs Kwara United.
Similarly, FCT based sports administrator, Victor Ijeremen will be on the stands to assess the performance of Dr Nasiru Suleiman of Sokoto alongside his assistants; Musa Hussaini and Ota Joel for another game to watch out, Remo Stars vs Heartland in Ikenne, Ogun State.
The Appointment by the NFF Referees Committee
11
SHOOTING STARS VS AKWA UTD
KELECHI MEJUOBI IM Assessor
FAISAL INUWA BA Referee
BELLO ALHASSAN KB Assistant Referee 1
NURA ALI GM Assistant Referee 2
OKOH MARCELUS SUNDAY EN Fourth Official
PRINCE MBEZUE AN Match Commissioner
IBADAN
12
KANO PILLARS VS LOBI STARS
MARYAM INDO BA
YEMISI AKINTOYE LG
KENNETH O AB
OSUMAH AJIBOYE ED
MOH.MOH. ZACHI YB
ABUBAKAR SADIQ BO
KADUNA
13
RIVERS UTD VS KATSINA UTD
ADAM SALAUDEEN LG
HANNAH ELAIGWU FCT
ADEBIYI AYODEJI OY
BER SIMON TERUNGWA BN
NWANDUKWE STEPHEN AN
TIJJANI ADEBAYO LG
PORTHACOURT
14
RANGERS INT VS ENYIMBA INT
BAWA UMAR MOHD ZM
JELILI OGUNMUYIWA LG
MOHD ZANGO KN
AUWAL USMAN GM
CHIA TERWASE BN
WAZIRI FURO AD
NNEWI
15
ABIA WARRIORS VS SUNSHINE STARS
MIKE UMUMUWANYO ED
IMAMU MALIK KN
MUSA DUNG PL
ATU EMMANUEL CR
SHAMSHUDEEN MOHD TR
GREG ABANG CR
OKIGWE
16
WIKKI TOURIST VS NIGER T
NSIRU IBRAHIM KN
BASHIR ADAMU KD
KINGSLEY NNAEMEKA AB
AKOKOBA VICTOR ED
DARAMOLA OLALEKAN EK
HASSAN GARO KN
BAUCHI
17
PLATEAU UTD VS KWARA UTD
IBRAHIM ZAILANI BA
ISAAC OGABA RV
OJELEYE SOLA OG
ABBA BABA DADA YB
MUSA ISYAKU JG
USMAN MALUD AD
JOS
18
DAKADA FC VS MFM FC
FELIX ODIONYE EB
DAHIRU MOHAMMED AD
MUSA ISA NG
ANIEKWE ARINZE IM
JONATHAN ZAKARIAH KD
YABAGI BABA NG
UYO
19
REMO STARS VS HEARTLAND FC
VICTOR IJEREME FCT
NASIRU SULEIMAN SK
MUSA HUSSAINI TALE FCT
OTA JEOL DT
MUSA MUSTAPHA BO
HALADU AKWASHIKI NS
IKENNE
20
NASARAWA UTD VS GOMBE UTD
PETER EDIBE CR
FAWOLE OLAWALE KD
EZE CHINONSO EN
YUSUF IBRAHIM KN
SALAM OLABODE IDRIS OY
LAFIA
Otunba Tade Azeez, the NRA President enjoins the referees to be safety conscious all through. He wishes all goodluck and journey mercies.
