President of Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau has denied a report going round the social media that he has held a meeting with football referees from the northern part of Nigeria ahead of upcoming elections into the Nigeria Referees Association.
“This report is most uncharitable because I was nowhere near the meeting that was said to have been held in Kano by the referees. I am the president of Nigeria Football and the father of all, and cannot engage in reductionism. If there has been any interaction at all with referees, it has been with every one of them from across the length and breadth of the country, and with the noble intention of charging them to do their job professionally and to be morally upright in the discharge of their duties.
“I have no interest whatsoever in who becomes the President of the referees as long as the person is the choice of the majority. I understand that the referees from the northern zone had a similar meeting in Kano before the NRA elections in 2019. It is befuddling that so much ado is being made of their recent meeting.”
Gusau reiterated that referees are a key component of the process in the strategy to reposition the Nigeria League, and their fair, professional and diligent performances will also go a long way in getting Nigerian arbiters back into reckoning for consideration for continental and global championships.
“My charge to all Nigerian referees is to be upright and professional in the discharge of their duties in the League, and the same for those who get appointments for continental events and global championship qualifiers. We have the personnel with the capacity and sagacity to do much better than we are doing now in the refereeing world. It is all about being more diligent, working harder and working right, and being above board.”