Sports
Nigeria’s search for referees continues
...as another CAF Nations Cup draws blank
Again, Nigeria is nowhere to be reckoned with in the continental and global arena in the very important aspect of refereeing as another international football calendar begins. Nigerian referees used to be a big force to be reckoned with locally and internationally.
No CAF event would pass without having the input of Nigerian referees, however, the past few years have been tumultuous for Nigerian referee after always being snubbed for CAF and FIFA events.
Just recently the Confederation of African Football (CAF) excluded Nigerian referees from its newly released list of professional referees. This decision comes despite earlier announcements by CAF President Patrice Motsepe that selected referees would be placed on the organization’s payroll, and undergo specialized training courses.
The finalized list, published on Tuesday, includes 24 referees—19 men and 5 women—who will participate in a training program scheduled from November 27 to December 4. This means that the Nigerian refereeing problem continues unabated.
Nigeria used to good in time past as erstwhile FIFA referee, Festus Bolaji Okubule a.k.a “Show Boy” would forever remain a reference point in the history of Nigerian football.
For more than four decades, Okubule officiated several domestic matches as well as international matches across the length and breadth of Africa. Until his death in 2022, Okobule served as a tutor and instructor in refereeing with FIFA and CAF.
Years after Okobule emerged another bright mind in refereeing, Peter Edibi, also got the recognition he deserved. As a matter of fact, in the history of the NRA, the closest a Nigerian referee came to officiating at the FIFA World Cup was in 2013 when Edibi made the provisional list for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
He almost made it to the World Cup in 2014 but got dropped at the last minutes after making an appearance at the 2014 FIFA Confederation cup.
Till date, no Nigerian has come close to making it to any international competition since then.
Lending his voice on the missed opportunity by Edibi, late FIFA badged referee, Festus Okubule, said the dropping of Edibi would serve as a wake-up call to the present crop of referees.
He added that if it countries like “The Gambia, Cote d’Ivoire and South Africa could have their referees short-listed to officiate at the tournament more than Nigeria; it showed that Nigerian referees had not met the required standards.
“For a referee to be short-listed for a major championship, FIFA expects such a referee to have scored not less than 80 per cent in three major matches in a year.
“It is a wake-up call for our referees to always ensure that they take matches more seriously, because FIFA Referee Committee has its records,’’ he said.
Although a few Nigerian referees had appeared at FIFA’s age-grade championships, none has officiated at the senior World Cup.
Some of the Nigerian football referees, who were decorated with FIFA badges in February have also not been given a look -in to officiate in international competitions.
CAF competitions
No Nigerian referee was considered good enough to officiate at the last AFCON held in Cote D’Ivoire. CAF had unveiled a list of 85 referees, comprising centre referees, assistant referees, Video Assistant Referees (VARs), technical instructors, physical trainers, VAR technicians, and IT support to undergo a preparation course for the 2025 AFCON.
In February, 29 Nigerian referees were awarded the FIFA badges, the highest qualification in the profession.
Sadly, none of them made the list. It is also the 13th time that no Nigerian referee will be officiating at the AFCON.
This latest snub by CAF has expectedly elicited wide condemnation from Nigerian football stakeholders, who have blamed systematic failure for the embarrassing situation.
Stakeholders Speak
Football stakeholders have decried the non-inclusion of any Nigerian referee to officiate at any World Cup finals since Nigeria was affiliated to FIFA in 1960, noting that a small country like Seychelles, had a referee in the World Cup. Former NFF president, speaking at the NFF seminar for referee decried the continued exclusion of referees in the country.
“It may be because there are more West African countries among the African teams at the World Cup; so, they might have decided to pick referees from other African regions different from West Africa,’’ he observed.
Also lending his voice, Ameenu Mohammed, an instructor with the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), said Nigerian referee’s non-inclusion in FIFA’s list is a challenge for them to put in more effort.
“Going by the records, no Nigerian referee has been at the World Cup finals and this is a challenge to all referees from Nigeria.
“They have seen how Edibi toiled; morning, afternoon and night across the country; they have now seen that there is a lot to be done to get there.
“They also have to pray because other referees are also preparing all over the world for the same slot,’’ he said
Linus Mba, a retired FIFA badged referee and a consultant with the NFA, said the association was working towards making Nigerian referees acceptable for future world events.
“We have a target for 2026 World Cup, which is why we have selected three Nigerian referees to be there.
“From the young talents we are going to inject into the system, we should be able to have a pool for FIFA to select qualified referees.
Mba noted that the NFA and NRA were working towards the establishment of a referee academy in the country.
“This is where we can start training teenage referees so that we will have young referees who can be groomed to get FIFA badge of recognition as young as possible,’’ he said.
Joe Erico, former Super Eagles’ goalkeeper trainer, said that it may not take a long time for a Nigerian referee to officiate at the World Cup finals.
He observed that if Nigerian referees could improve in their performance, it would not take the FIFA Referee Committee time to reckon with them.
Erico noted that the committee rated Nigerian referees low because they did not meet the requirements laid down by FIFA.
A former international Adokiye Amiesimaka, advised football stakeholders to create conducive environment for Nigerian referees.
The former Super Eagles’ player advised referees to be proactive and use the provisions in the rules to enhance their performance.
“Referees should not be made to depend on individual clubs for their match fees; such fees should be reasonable and attractive; erring referees should be promptly and appropriately sanctioned, while exemplary ones should be rewarded.
“If we pay sufficient attention to security concerns at match venues and ensure that referees function independent of competing clubs, they should be able to ply their trade without fear or favour.
In a country’s league, where a home team must win, does not speak well of the referees. The future of Nigerian referees is on their own hands.
Nigeria’s Brightest Prospect
After many years of neglect by both CAF and FIFA, Nigeria’s Joseph Ogabi, a University lecturer at Human Kinetics department University of Calabar, may have brought back Nigeria to limelight, when it comes to refereeing in the country. He has officiated many international events in recent times and his scorecard has been highly impressive according to CAF.
His handling of the Tunisia vs Comoros AFCON qualifiers in October got a pass mark. Based on his recent records, Ogabi appears to be highly favoured to be one of the referee’s at next year’s AFCON billed for Morocco