Poor refereeing destroys football


Lazarus Sauti

P
oor refereeing, without doubt, is one of the biggest obstacles to the development of the game of football in Africa.

It destroys football, kills the moral of players and at worst, causes violence at stadiums.

The Chairman, Security Committee of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Chief Effiong Johnson, described the performance of some of the referees as “shameful” and blamed them for the increasing cases of violence in Nigeria football.

Johnson explains: “Nigerians can now see the reason why violence occurs in our stadia. Our referees are no doubt the major cause. The officiating was terrible. If referees do what is right, supporters will not be pushed to commit violence.”

Poor refereeing is not only a problem in Nigeria but the whole of Africa too and it broods hooligans.

Violence aside, bad refereeing drives sponsors away since no serious organisations want to be associated with bad things.

Poor officiating also puts referees lives in danger. Good cases are that of Lwandile Mfiki and Smanga Nhleko.

Lwandile Mfiki was assaulted by a Kaizer Chiefs supporter after he had sent off Chiefs influential midfielder Reneilwe Letsholonyane in a match pitting Amakhosi and Goldern Arrows at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

In another case, referee SmangaNhleko was assaulted by a TP Mazembe official after Orlando Pirates of South Africa defeated Mazembe of Democratic Republic of Congo in a first leg CAF Champion League last Saturday.

The Swaziland official says he was fortunate to escape serious injury, adding: “I was fortunate to react quickly and avoid the punch by diving and blocking his hand.”

There is no denying the fact that referees are human beings who are susceptible to committing mistakes but some of their actions are questionable and controversial.

Three-time winner of the African Footballer of the Year award Abedi Pele said the poor African refereeing standards had contributed to the continuing falling standards of the game.

Pele said: “This is a disease in African football which needs to be cured but we do not have the cure yet.

Confederation of African Football and Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) should get very efficient officials then things will be organised, like if they got ex-players.”

The biased refereeing partly explains why it is difficult to earn an away win in African football unlike on other continents.

It is believed that most host nations bribe officials to swing the games in their favour though no evidence has been attached to this yet.

Other theories suggest that CAF wants big names at the finals of the continental competitions such as Africa cup of nations, CAF Confederations Cup and CAF Champions League thus doing everything to deny the small sides victory over the so called African soccer powers.

Poor refereeing also partly explains why African countries do not perform well at the World Cup. It is the reason why few African referees officiate at the bigger stage.

Therefore, it is high time teams within and across Africa win fairly or else the beautiful game on the African continent is ruined.

National, regional football federations and the Confederation of African Football authorities should appoint efficient and committed referees to handle games for the sake of the games development.

Pele goes on to say: “CAF is still struggling to reach the expected officiating levels as was the case in European football.

“Things must change. Africa is very blessed to have a lot of intelligent people and the day we will change our attitude things will change.”

It is the responsibility of CAF, as the custodian of African football to invest in referee training programmes. Referees need to be educated on how to handle big matches and how to interpret football laws.

Local and regional soccer federations should support CAF by holding refereeing clinics. These clinics can help African referees to handle matches at highest levels such as FIFA Confederation and World Cups.

Since Africa is trying hard to catch up with other continents in terms of football development, refereeing should be prioritised as it is an important ingredient to soccer development. Good refereeing attracts sponsors and all good things associated with football.

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