In readiness for the 2023 African Cup of Nations scheduled for Cote d’Ivoire next year, the Confederation of African Football, CAF has released a list of 85 referees from more than 26 African countries that will take part in a refresher course ahead of the bi-annual tournament.
But the absence of any Nigerians amongst the 43 shortlisted referee for the course implies that there are not going to be any Nigerian match officials at the Nations Cup come 2024.
Many wondered how Egypt and Algeria, all in North Africa, have the highest number of names captured down in the center referees list with three each while Morocco, Mauritania, and Mauritius have two each. Other countries featured on the CAF list are Gabon, Ghana, Benin, Congo, Somalia, and a host of others.
Morocco, Kenya, Cote D’Ivoire, Algeria, Egypt, and South Africa have two names each on the assistant referees list, with little-known Comoros, Djibouti, Burkina Faso, Sao Tome and Principe featuring amongst other countries.
Four VAR referees are selected from Mauritius, South Africa, Morocco and Egypt. Seven technical instructors and physical trainers from Zimbabwe, Burundi, Cote D’Ivoire, Senegal, Morocco, and Djibouti were also selected.
Ever since the list was released, there were a lot of discussions, complaints and criticism from various angles as to why CAF will snub Nigerian referees in its big time football competition.
Many see the decision to include countries like Comoros, Djibouti, Burkina Faso, Sao Tome and Principe and sidelined Nigeria in Africa’s big soccer event as a bad omen with no wisdom at all.
But as for me, I have a contrary opinion which made me to exonerate CAF from any fault play. I don’t blame CAF for its decision to exclude Nigeria’s referees.
I am sure they are in the true picture of how the Nigerian referees bastardized the most popular and most followership game in the country.
And we all know that if you want the best you must go after the best so what CAF did was right and in order because they want the best and crisis free competition and they go for the best in Africa.
We are all aware of how the Nigerian referees collaborated with almost all team officials in various leagues and killed soccer in Nigeria.
And it was their love for money and materials accumulation that made some club officials to pocket them which the resultant effect were to be given undue advantages to some clubs above some.
It is only in Nigeria that you know or predict the outcome of a match even before the match was played due to bad refereeing. Once you can give them money, you are assured of good results.
They gave results even without the match being played and made it a reality and that explained why there is few or no private participation in our leagues.
The game is left in the hands of the state government. Just look at the teams in the premier division, how many clubs are owned by individuals?
And for years, poor officiating by our referees has been the subject of discussion in all the leagues in Nigeria and it is their corrupt practices that have ensured that they are not considered in competitions organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) or the world football governing body, FIFA.
That is why for most soccer followers in Nigeria, the fear of referees is the beginning of wisdom, as they determine the winners and losers with their whistle during matches. And that is why the men in black mostly paid the price of what they did from fans who find it difficult to tolerate their unsportsmanlike actions.
Nigerian referees have frustrated many supporters, managers and sponsors out of the soccer business through their dubious attitudes. They have successfully and systematically destroyed the round leather game in Nigeria.
The consolation for soccer fans in Nigeria is foreign leagues televised through satellite. Most people now retired to foreign leagues rather than our own leagues.
Almost all soccer followers in Nigeria are tired of the Nigerian referees’ atrocities. They see them as their kill joy. They see them as a disease or cancer in our football system with them benefitting heavily from their evil acts.
We have seen how referees are amassing wealth which made them buy properties and build big houses throughout the country courtesy of their rapport with club officials.
They wickedly without shame manufactured undeserved penalty kicks to their darling teams to produced goal(s) at home throughout the league season.
Poor officiating is the result of chaos and violence that we witnessed during football matches in our leagues.
The only way to survive in the Nigerian league is to get plenty of money and be a father charismas to the committee appointing referees and the referees themselves.
It is only in Nigeria where heavy recruitment of players and technical crew is not a guarantee to good results or winning matches. If you want to win, source for money and give it to referees, they will do the dirty job for you.
There wickedness have sent many people in this country including supporters, players and managers into their early graves. And CAF and FIFA are fully aware about it.
That is why CAF or FIFA cannot trust Nigerian referees and make them part of their respective competitions.
Therefore, the disappearance of the name(s) of the Nigerian referees at the 2024 Nation Cup is not surprising to me. In fact they deserved it.
Both CAF and FIFA are very much aware of their evil deeds. They are fully conscious of how they are conniving with some club managers, who want to “win at all cost” to justify the money that they are collecting from the clubs and giving them results.
That is why many people are suggesting the inclusion of people like lawyers, doctors, members of the armed forces, magistrates and judges to become referees because some of them love football and they have sufficient intelligence to understand the rules and regulations of the game and apply them pragmatically.
Some people believe that it will be difficult for any team manager or official to approach them with a bribe, and they will not only help to develop the game, but will also protect the integrity of the game.
Despite the volume of reassurance by some referees’ heads, the usual cry of poor officiating keeps reverberating in our leagues, be it premier or not season by season.
Ordinarily, referees are supposed to be unbiased umpires, but here in Nigeria they are all the same. They only blew according to the money collected from the teams.
And it is their evil deeds that are haunting our teams anywhere and anytime they go out on continental or sub-regional competitions.
Just look at how our almighty Enyimba FC of Aba together with the Remo Stars, the two Nigeria’s representatives in this season’s CAF Champions League, have been eliminated in the first qualifying round of the competition.
While Enyimba lost 4-3 on aggregate, Remo Stars were defeated 3-2 on penalties following a 1-1 aggregate score.
Enyimba could not overturn their 4-3 loss to a war torn Libya’s Al-Ahly FC of Benghazi, Libya to qualify to the next round, but settled for a disappointing 0-0 draw in Aba. The goalless draw means the NPFL champions are eliminated in the first round of the tournament. Too bad.
Similarly, Remo Stars FC, in their first foray into the pinnacle of continental football, won their second-leg encounter 1-0 to cancel out the visitors’ first-leg advantage but were edged out through penalty kicks.
In a nutshell, I don’t pity them for losing this great opportunity to either be at the center or by the side. They should pay for the wickedness they implicated in our soccer.
They should change if they want respect from both CAF and FIFA.
