NPFL thumbs up officiating in first stanza of the season

The Nigeria Premier Football League has commended its referees for their impressive performances in the first half of the season.

The NPFL Chief Operating Officer, Davidson Owumi, disclosed this while assessing the performance of the referees.

Owumi believed that officiating got better with a handful of errors that could have been erased with the aid of modern technology.

He said the NPFL is working with the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, and other development partners towards introducing technology in the league.

He also pointed to the league’s zero tolerance for poor officiating, as manifested in the swift withdrawal of culprits from officiating in NPFL matches.

“After 185 matches, we probably had issues with less than 15 and in terms of percentage, I think our referees scored over 85 per cent which represents excellence,” he told the NPFL media.

“We are not unmindful that football is now technologically driven for player training and match officiating, where the Video Assistant Referee, VAR, now assists referees in correcting human errors.

“We worked in perfect sync with the NFF Referees Appointment Committee to organise trainings for selected members of the Nigeria Referees Association (NRA) and those who have so far been adjudged to have performed poorly were delisted for now.

“Last season, we enshrined points deduction in the framework and rules for any club whose fans physically attacked our referees, and this season, we went a step further to mandate all home teams to provide a special escort security squad for match officials.

“The only breach recorded was in Gombe and Gombe United were deducted three points and three goals.

“So, overall, we have made it possible for our officiating to improve considerably and will continue to explore opportunities to attain the global best rating. It’s a work in progress,” Owumi concluded.

The second half of the 2023–24 NPFL season will begin next month.

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