FOOTBALL HOOLIGANISM: NFF vows to deal with perpetrators
Emmanuel Alfred
The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF have vowed to deal decisively with players, officials of teams and their supporters who indulge in physical assault on referees during match days.
This was made known by Dr Sanusi Mohammed, the General Secretary of the NFF who represented the President, Mr Amaju Pinnick at the opening session of the 2022 Member Association, MA Course program in Abuja.
In declaring the event officially open at the Package B Sector of the FIFA Goal Project, National Stadium, Abuja, He said that the NFF won’t allow perpetrators of such acts to go free without adequate sanctions.
“NFF is not going to tolerate any act of holiganism and all those fingered in the beating of referees will be dealt with.
“Referees are human beings prone to errors and if such occurs during officiating, it shouldn’t give room to unwarranted attacks”.
Speaking on the essence of good officiating, Dr Sanusi admonished the referees on the importance of inculcating the three Rs (recognizing, reporting and resisting ) of officiating which focuses on ethics and integrity.
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 boss disclosed that the high capacity workshop not only enriches the mental psyche of the referees, but improves 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 Confederation of African Football Referees Committee expressed happiness with the form of participants taking part in the program.
The three-course program that have Elite Men and Women referees including Beach Soccer referees started on June 27 and will end on July 5 2022 with Premier League Assessors course.
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 Nigeria Professional Football League and the Nigerian Natioanal League.
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.
