Match Day 3 of Nigeria Premier Football League between Rivers United and Niger Tornadoes of Minna held in Amiesimaka Stadium, Porthacourt on Tuesday, 24th January, 2023 was watered down by a member of Nigeria Referee Association, NRA ,Lagos State Council, Mr. Faro Abdulrahman who brazenly disallowed a goal scored by the away team.
Before we go into the details, one may like to ask what are the main duties of referees and what does the law say about goal scored or otherwise in the field of play.
What are the duties and responsibilities of soccer referees?
They are the ones in charge of maintaining fair play. Soccer referees are responsible for maintaining fair play and making binding decisions on the application of soccer laws.
The head referee works together with the assistant referees, who are responsible for watching the lines and ensuring that the game is fair.
Sometimes, rarely, a referee’s decision coincides with the will of the fans, but even then he does not succeed in proving his innocence. The defeated lose because of him and the victorious win in spite of him”, wrote the Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano in his book El futbol a soly sombra.
The main duty of a referee is to monitor the game and enforce fair play. Referees have the power to penalize players with yellow or red cards, to stop or terminate play due to risk factors, and to assess fouls and penalties.
The referees are also responsible for keeping time and providing a match report to the league officials.
Referees try to keep players safe. This means that if a player is injured or bleeding, a referee stops play and ensures that the player is removed or attended to on the field. This protects both the injured player and his teammates.
Referees may also issue cards to players to maintain fair play.
The story appears differently today in Porthacourt as what some football followers adjudged to be a clean goal by Niger Tornadoes against Rivers United at Amiesimaka Stadium, Porthacourt was seen below belt by the arbiters. The visual point was uploaded and reviewed by Football gladiators
According to Media Officer, Mighty Jets of Jos, Ferdinand Mbum;
“This particular name, the CR, – Faro Abdulrahman as a matter of grave national concern must be punished… He goofed.”
“We are trying to rebuild our football and he wants to take us back”.
Also, Kudos Audu from Katsina says;
“This referee is retracing his step back to where the members of NRA belongs..
Also, from Coach Uni Dan Kakwi;
WHERE IS THE NRA ?
This Tornadoes goal was a clean goal…
Referee committee should please make a statement
,This singular act upholds incompetency .
Absence of it will mean conspiracy to give Rivers United 3 points and powes to do worse
If this is not fully addressed it might end up smearing the new NFF movement under the watchful eyes of the new President
We are watching 😎
Another reaction from the CEO TopPro Management, Mr Ayodele Thomas from Lagos State
I’m waiting for the reports of the Match Commissioner in the whole of this scenario…
Another member of Sports World Platform said:
There are close calls that can hardly be evaluated that could be streamlined as a mistake
In this case the referee was 8-10 metres away from the incident and from the zoomed video there was no contact
All he could do was to blow the whistle and cancel one of the most clinical goals of the NPFL season
On a 2nd thought why didn’t he even consult with his lines man?
The referee just exposed the underlying fears of change not fully coming to the NRA ..
For fair judgement and submission in this regard, what are the likely circumstances or situations that may have warranted the umpires to disallow such a goal as stated in Law 10 (IFAB). It says:
“The referee could have disallowed the goal if there had been and infringement…the law says: a goal is scored if the whole of the ball had gone over the goal line under the cross bar and in-between the upright either on the ground or in air *provided an infringement had not been committed by the attacking team before the goal is scored*”
Did any offence stated above happen in the build up to the goal? Did any of the defending players fall down for rough tackle from the attacking player, perhaps pushing from behind? Did the ball go out of play before the goal was scored?
Let’s wait for the outcome of the investigation
The full list of the officials who handled the said match to be investigated in this regard is hereunder:
CR – Faro Abdulrahman – Lagos
AR1- Akinsulire Kayode – Ondo
AR2- Akinsanya Segun – Oyo
RR- Olabode Jushua – Oyo
The sanity and sanctity of our League must be maintained with all vigour.
