Players and officials of teams, including their supporters who indulge in physical assault on referees will dearly pay for it, courtesy of what is coming from the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF.
There have been plethora of physical attacks on members of the Nigeria Referees Association, NRA, involved in the various domestic leagues in the country; the NPFL, NNL and NLO.
The attacks reached a crescendo last week following the incidents in Kano and Delta where referees were manhandled by players and officials in NPFL and NNL respectively. The incidents and others before now attracted the attention of the NRA which called on the federation and league organisers to provide adequate security at match venues for the protection of lives of referees.
In apparent response to the call by the NRA and also worried by the spate of attacks on referees, the NFF warned it won’t tolerate such indecent acts not good for the growth of football.
Speaking at the opening session of the 2022 Member Association, MA Course program in Abuja, representative of the football house who declared the event officially open at the Package B sector of the FIFA Goal project, National Stadium, Abuja said that the NFF won’t allow perpetrators of such act go free without adequate sanctions.
Dr Sanusi Mohammed, the General Secretary of the NFF who represented the President, Mr Amaju Pinnick said that the “NFF is not going to tolerate any act of holiganism and all those fingered in the beating of referees will be squarely dealt with.
“We are not going to allow such a situation because the NFF will deal with culprits”
He said that referees are human beings prone to errors and if such occurs during officiating, it shouldn’t give room to unwarranted attacks.
Going further on the essence of good officiating, Dr Sanusi admonished the referees on the importance of inculcating the three Rs of officiating which focuses on ethics and integrity.
According to the NFF scribe, the 3Rs involve recognizing, reporting and resisting unwholesome acts not inconformity with the ethics of officiating.
In his speech earlier, President of the NRA, Otunba Tade Azeez
said that the MA course is a vital developmental program designed by FIFA to upgrade the mental, physical and knowledge of the referees each year.
The NRA President disclosed that the high capacity workshop not only enriches the mental psyche of the referees but enriches their knowledge of the latest techniques of officiating and laws of the game.
The lead Instructor from FIFA, Lim Kim Chung who is also Vice Chairman of CAF Referees Committee expressed happiness with the form of participants taking part in the program.
The three days course program that have Elite Men and Women referees including Beach Soccer referees started on June 27 to end on July 5 2022 with Premier League Assessors course.
