41 Nigerian referees fail mid-season test

412 referees took the test.

The Nigeria Referees Association, NRA, on Thursday in Abuja confirmed that 41 of the 412 referees who participated in its mid-season fitness test failed.

Ameenu Mohammed, one of the instructors at the just-concluded three-day fitness test, confirmed this.

The test was conducted for referees officiating in the Nigeria Professional Football League, NPFL, and the Nigeria National League, NNL, to ascertain their fitness.

The test, which was held at the National Stadium, started on Tuesday with the 412 referees divided into the six geo-political zones of the country.

Mohammed said that 371 referees passed the test.

“We recorded a 100 per cent turn out from the six geo-political zones and, in all, 412 referees participated. Only 41 of them failed, meaning that 371 passed. Now, we can say that we have recorded about 90 per cent success in relation to the number of those who participated, which is a good one for us,” the instructor said.

A Consultant Referee to the Nigeria Football Association, NFA, Zubairu Sani, commended the exercise, describing the result as encouraging.

“The 90 per cent pass is an indication that the referees are ready and fit for the second stanza of the league. We are happy that the test was successful without any casualty, coupled with the fact that we recorded 90 per cent pass. It is an indication that the referees have not gone to sleep, even as the leagues are now on break for the World Cup,” Sani said.

The 2013/2014 competitions in both the NPFL and NNL have been on break since the beginning of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Both competitions will resume after the Mundial.

Sani said the NFA was ready to ensure that the successful referees would be used for the leagues after their resumption.

“We will ensure that only the referees who passed the fitness test will officiate the remaining matches in the leagues,” he said.

The mid-season fitness test served as the second quarter fitness test for the referees.

(NAN)