Ibrahim Gusau President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Gusau, has confirmed plans to introduce a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).
Gusau stated that the NFF will begin the process by sending some referees to countries already using VAR to study its application.
He assured that VAR would be effectively implemented in Nigerian football before the end of his first tenure as NFF president in 2026.
VAR is a system that aids referees in making more accurate decisions on various aspects of soccer matches.
This could be a good projection as it will prepare Nigerian footballers for what they will go through whenever they take part in an international football event, mostly out of Africa.
Besides, it will familiarize the local footballers with what their counterparts in the advanced nations are currently experiencing, and the technological advancement will greatly improve the quality of playing football in the local league.
Above all, the introduction of VAR to NPFL will put an end to an incident of alleged favoritism by some football officials, and the teams will know that there is no shortcut to victory, any longer. However, the concern that this development raises is the incompetence of Nigerian football referees when it comes to international competition.
Nigerian football referees are so incompetent that they are hardly assigned the duty of officiating African matches whether at the African Cup of Nations or the continent's League competitions; not to talk about the World Cup or other football competitions that bring the world together.
Should the thirst for the building of competent football referees, who will earn both continental and global integrity be the priority of NFF or the introduction of VAR whose objectives may be jeopardized by the same incompetence that devalued Nigerian football referees?
Category: World-News
Tag: Nigeria Football Federation NFF Nigeria Premier Football League NPFL
Written by Omooba Alekuwodo (omoobaalekuwodo)
Published 12/1/2023 9:31:30 PM