Nigeria’s Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, has expressed his displeasure over the non-inclusion of Nigerian referees among the match officials listed for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations that will be hosted by Cote D’Ivoire from January 13 to February 11/2024, Completesports.com reports.
“Given Nigeria’s population and pedigree in football, the country should not be in such a predicament, I will hold engagements with bodies related to the matter and see how we can remedy this going forward,” an appalled Senator Enoh said.
“I was duly informed that at the last AFCON (2021), Nigeria had only one assistant referee listed amongst the match officials. Two years prior, we didn’t have any centre referee too. Going into the next AFCON, we still won’t have any Nigerian official.
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“I am going to interrogate this matter. We will have engagements with the NFF, the Referees’ Association, and the League Board because we need to get to the bottom of this,” the minister reiterated.
Senator Enoh also said that without prejudice to the outcome, the development – of not having Nigerian referees featuring in Africa’s flagship football championship calls for a reflection of the institutional setting within which sports are being administered in the country. He asserted his commitment to ensuring that sports across all facets thrive in the nation, for Nigeria to stand tall in the comity of nations.
The 34th Africa Cup of Nations is billed to take place across five cities in Cote D’Ivoire. Theee-time African Champions, Nigeria’s Super Eagles, topped Group A of the qualifying series to secure participation.
By Richard Jideaka Abuja
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“I am going to interrogate this matter. We will have engagements with the NFF, the Referees’ Association, and the League Board because we need to get to the bottom of this,” the minister reiterated.
Thank you, sir. It’s really a shame. The previous ministers didn’t care, but it looks like you’ll be a good minister. How can the most populated country on the continent with a thriving league not produce referees in Afcon after Afcon? Something is seriously wrong.
Why don’t they qualify? Why are they not trusted? How has this affected the quality of our league and underperformance in CAF club competitions? If possible sir, summon ex-minister Sunday Dare to the investigations. He may need to provide some answers as well. Interestingly, he’s planted a man here on CSN to defend all of the poo he made (and with bile and name-calling) during his forgettable tenure.
This sports minister seems proactive. It is poor not to have Nigerian referees in the Afcon.
Is the minister fuming because he feels Nigerian referees are not good enough, or that they have been overlooked out of prejudice? A Nigerian, Amaju Pinnick is a CAF executive, and the minister could consult with him for education on this perennial issue.
This man is not a farmer but rather a sports loving person
Complete Sports is slowly dying after the death of its founder. I don’t feel the vibe on this page anymore because it’s like my browser is attacked when I try to open previous pages. Omg and for nobody to care but seeing mama and son posing for sports video news to gather fame is the most disgusting of all. How I wish Elder was still alive this nonsense will not be happening!!!