NFF President Gusau urges FIFA instructors to develop Nigerian Referees

By Saheed Afolabi

The President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau has pleaded with FIFA instructors to provide valuable tips to help Nigeria referees grow.

35 referees took part in the women referee course while 40 were on the Futsal Referee Course and another 40 men were engaged in the Elite Men Referee Course and the Nigerian FA boss lamented the low patronage of the country’s referees at top tournaments compared to other countries.

The former Zamfara FA chairman further tasked the instructors to prioritize impacting knowledge to Nigeria football referees and providing tips on how to develop their career.

“We have our teams regularly taking part in major competitions in Africa and the world, and it is always a painful thing seeing referees from other countries while we hardly get to see our own compatriots of the whistle,” Gusau said in the NFF statement to NigeriaFootbal.ng.

“We want you to take up this assignment beyond the regular instruction courses, you should endeavour to communicate with them all the time, encourage them, support them and give them tips that will keep improving them to get to the top.”

Nigerian referee instructors Engineer Emmanuel Imiere, Felicia Okwugba, Saheed Ayeni, Ibrahim Fagge, Sarah Adebisi, Cecilia Ogbuji, Peter Edibe, Maryam Indo, Bola Sekiteri, Victor Ijereme, Dr. Aminu Shantali and Colonel Nicholas Achikasim are also involved in the instructional programme, as well as Rabiu Gusau, Abraham Zakowi, Bello Abubakar and Calistus Chukwudi Chukwujekwu who are members of the NFF Referees Committee.

The women referee course and Futsal referee course ended on July 6 , while the elite referee course will begin on the ninth and end on the 15th of July.