The Confederation of African Football (CAF), the continent's main football regulatory organization, revealed the list of referees who will take part in the upcoming 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which will be held in Cameroon from January 9 to February 6, 2022. A total of 63 match officials have been chosen to participate in the event.
The list includes 24 referees, 31 assistant referees, and eight video assistant referees (VARs) from 36 different nations. Two referees from CONCACAF, the governing body of North and Central America and the Caribbean, are also on the list.
While Nigeria's Super Eagles will be among the 24 countries flying the national flag during the competition, no central Nigerian referees will be within whistleblowing distance of the event.
This is because the competition's organizers, once again, could not identify any Nigerian referee worthy of presiding at the event, with the exception of one assistant referee.
Nigeria's continuous poor representation, or lack thereof, for more than a decade now is a troubling scenario and a thumbs down in terms of that crucial component of sport.
Speaking about the list, Eddy Mailet, the CAF's Director of Refereeing, stated that the selection was based on experience, talents, and current form.
He said that the selected officials were subjected to a series of aptitude exams, including training classes and actual competitive matches, and that only the best would preside at the special event.
The 27th edition of the AFCON Tournament, held in Angola in 2010, may have seen the most dismissive treatment of our referees ever. Nigeria only had one assistant referee who was regarded capable of refereeing during the competition, but South Africa had two centre referees and assistants.
Among the countries who sent a referee and an assistant were Angola, Egypt, and Tunisia. As is customary, officials from minor nations such as Seychelles and the Republic of Benin were sent to serve as center referees. Even two non-African countries, Saudi Arabia and Iran, were represented on the list of match officials.
While CAF could only choose one assistant referee from Nigeria for the Angola climax, the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) chose 28 referees and helpers from the country for its 2010 tournaments throughout the continent.
The question that agitated the minds of the Nigerian soccer family then was: “What problem did CAF see which FIFA did not?”
Nigeria was a force to be reckoned with from the 1970s through the 1990s, and its referees could not be ignored by both the CAF and FIFA in all of their tournaments. Nigeria was regarded the third greatest football nation in the continent at the time. The Super Eagles were rated fifth in the world when they made their debut appearance at the FIFA World Cup Finals in 1994.
Its domestic football scene was thriving, and the caliber of officiating was extremely good both at home and abroad. The majority of referees and linesmen, as assistance referees were known back then, wore FIFA badges.
Refereeing is, without a question, an important component of football, and it is clear that the country's refereeing fortunes have plummeted in recent years, causing it to fall off the CAF's radar.
Festus Okubule, R. O. Oyeyemi, Bulus Ishaya, S. Olanrewaju, Reuben Mannok, John Saiki, S. O. Fehintola, and Linus Mba are among the notable referees who have done the country proud both inside and beyond the continent.
These officials may have hung their whistles, but their imprints on the soccer fields were permanent. They were guys of honor and honesty, who were open and committed to their work. Their whistles were not soiled by dubious judgments.
Amaju Pinnick, the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), is now a high-ranking member of the CAF and FIFA. As an insider, he owes Nigerian soccer fans an explanation for the Confederation's continuing avoidance of our referees. A country's football is only as good as its referees. The low ranking of Nigerian referees may be related to the negative reputation that some members of the Nigeria Referees Association have (NRA) earned.
Bribery and corruption allegations have persisted in local competitions. There have been countless instances of matches ending in chaos as a result of referees and their aides compromising. The NRA must rid itself of the corrupt members among its ranks. The NFF is also responsible for ridding the football world of rotten apples. That will be the first step in restoring the country's reputation as an international refereeing powerhouse.