ABUJA – The Nigeria Referees Association (NRA) on Monday in Abuja made a case for the use of fewer referees in the elite league to ensure proper officiating during matches.
The President of the association, Ahmed Maude, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the more chances referees were given to officiate in matches, the better their performance would be for the growth of the league.
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“I am of the view that we reduce the number of referees at the premier league level and we motivate them with matches and remunerations.
“When we motivate them, let us experiment it, if they are good we retain them.
“In England, hardly in a year will they promote three to four referees to Premier, unlike what we have in Nigeria, you must be exceptionally good before you come to premier.
“We must identify the best and restrict the number (that gets promoted), so that the more they officiate, the better they become.
“If you only officiate once in five weeks, how good will you be practicing?
“If you should officiate this week, rest next week and officiate the week after alternately like that, I think they will be good referees, you know practice makes perfection.
“Therefore, when they do a lot of work, a lot of matches, they will be perfect.“
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Maude said that referees’ perfection would go a long way in attracting more spectator and sponsors for the league.
“In England, they have only 23 referees officiating in the premier league, which means every two weeks, you must have an action.
“I think if we can do that, our league will be one of the best, it will attract more spectators, more sponsorship and all the aspects of football that you think.“ (NAN)
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