At the Nigerian Football Federation’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Asaba, NFF President Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau delivered an inspiring speech detailing plans for referees’ development within the country’s football sector.
Gusau highlighted the strides made since assuming office, focusing on improvements in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).
He emphasized that matches are now live-streamed, night matches have been reintroduced, and match officials are receiving enhanced welfare packages aimed at safeguarding their integrity and performance.
A key milestone highlighted was the partnership with Premium Bank, which will now supply match officials, referees and assessors with necessary kits.
There has been a change in ensuring that match officials and referees receive their allowances before arriving at match venues, a significant shift from past delays in payments.
Gusau also spoke about the NFF’s efforts to prioritize the safety, training, and recruitment of young referees, who are being encouraged through new initiatives and training sessions.
Furthermore, the NFF introduced a system where elite and younger referees are segregated into specialized batches, with a focus on identifying the best among the younger referees.
“It is on the basis of that that at the last MA course, I had to make sure that it was segregated into two batches of 40 elite and 40 junior referees. And all these junior referees are under 20 years old.
From these 40 referees, I asked the FIFA instructors to pick the best 20 from those young boys and girls which they were able to do and as I am talking to you, 10 of these young referees are currently officiating in the ongoing premier league.”
Ten of these junior referees are already officiating in the ongoing NPFL season, signaling a clear shift toward nurturing a new generation of skilled officials capable of competing at international levels.
Gusau praised the intelligence and adaptability of these young referees, underlining the importance of being technologically adept and knowledgeable about the ever-evolving rules of the game.
“We are seeing a lot of commitment in these young boys because refereeing now is not about just going into the pitch to be blowing whistle. You must be very intelligent to know the laws of the game because the laws are always changing year in, year out.
You have to be computer literate and very intelligent, and these young boys and girls are the answer to our problems and by the grace of God we are going to concentrate on them to change the narratives as far as refereeing is concerned to get them to contend at the international level.”
This commitment to fostering young talent marks a pivotal moment in Nigerian refereeing, with Gusau reaffirming his ambition to see them succeed on the global stage.
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