By Bliss Okperan
Some match officials in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) have been punished for poor officiating by the Nigeria Referees Association.
President of the group, Mr Sanni Zubair, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) over the weekend in Lagos.
He explained that the action was taken to restore the confidence of players and other stakeholders, including football fans, in the local league.
According to him, the organisation will not hesitate to flush out referees found guilty of undermining the football league, adding that efforts are being made to ensure the domestic league regains attraction.
“Our recent decision to punish some match officials shows that we’re not playing; we will do what we can to ensure that we flush out bad referees and make players have confidence in officiating 100 per cent,” he said.
“Aside from the players, a referee has the utmost power to make or mar a match; we have put in place several measures to stand as deterrents.
“We don’t care who the godfather is; once the fact has been established that a referee has erred deliberately, such a person will face the full wrath of the law guiding principles of officiating,” Mr Zubair further said.
There had been a video from the Matchday Seven fixture between Bendel Insurance and Remo Stars in Benin making the rounds showing a contentious moment where a Remo Stars player’s potential goal of the season was controversially disallowed.
The 2023/2024 NPFL season, currently in its 10th week, has been marred with deafening complaints over poor officiating.
Dipo Olowookere