For the faint-hearted, this is not the best time to be in the Super Eagles. It does not matter whether you are a member of the technical crew or a player. As we already know, there has been hardly any complimentary word for coach Shaibu Amodu and his team since that unhappy Maputo episode about six weeks ago. With a total of five matches to go in the World Cup 2010 qualifying series against undoubtedly committed contenders like Kenya, Mozambique and Tunisia, and knowing that not winning any of the matches is not an option, it is indeed an exceedingly stressful period for the team. Especially when you are left in no doubt that many of your fans and fellow countrymen do not think much of your chances. Not surprisingly, the football authorities have not failed to make a great show of their ‘‘concern and commitment‘‘ to our World Cup aspirations.

The Nigeria Football Association reportedly held a few ‘‘serious meetings‘‘ with Amodu to find out how the embattled coach plans to ensure that we clinch the only ticket from our group to South Africa 2010. ‘‘Super Eagles‘ qualification for the first World Cup tournament on African soil is not negotiable,‘‘ Chairman Sani Lulu has often declared. ‘‘It is unthinkable for Nigeria not to be in South Africa next year,‘‘ Secretary-General Bolaji Ojo-Oba constantly intones. ‘‘We will do everything to qualify‘‘, board member Taiwo Ogunjobi routinely echoes. No doubt, these are very convenient words when you are not the one to sweat it out with equally determined teams and the burden is on another person‘s shoulders. And does it not seem easy when the only responsibility that you have given yourself as the football governing body in Nigeria is to merely assemble players that are groomed in foreign leagues to represent your country?

But, wait a minute. Is it only national teams that feature in the World Cup? Is it not true that countries also take great pride in seeing their nationals in the role of the most powerful and influential component of any football match? Yes, football associations also strive to ensure that their referees too qualify for the World Cup. Maybe it is high time that the NFA came under the microscope and was seriously asked how it performed in that direction.

Thanks to referee Tom Ovrebo‘s recent controversial handling of the Chelsea versus Barcelona Champions League semi-final match at Stamford Bridge, more people have become very much aware of how influential a referee can be in determining the outcome of a match. Naturally, refereeing is receiving a little more attention in football circles. In view of the fact that Ovrebo is one of the 38 preselected referees by FIFA for the 2010 World Cup, that tentative list is being closely scrutinised now and quite a few people are requesting that Ovrebo should not make the final list.

Let me presume that most Nigerian football fans will like to know how many Nigerians are among the preselected referees. Well, none! In fact, no Nigerian referee has ever been seriously considered for a World Cup match since the elite tournament began in 1930, not to talk of actually handling one. Sadly, my investigations further reveal that no Nigerian referee has ever conducted any FIFA age grade tournament as centre referee. This is so revealing of our football authorities‘ traditional neglect to raise the quality of refereeing in Nigeria to the highest possible standard and our low credibility rating in the eyes of FIFA.

The 38 pre-selected referees for South Africa 2010 are from countries in the six confederations, that is, AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC and UEFA. They are from five countries each in AFC, CAF, and CONCACAF, six countries in CONMEBOL, one country in OFC, and 14 countries in UEFA. New Zealand, in OFC, is the only country that produced two referees.

The oldest among the thirty-eight referees is Hector Baldassi of Argentina under CONMEBOL and he will be 44 years old by the time of the World Cup next year. The youngest is Joel Aguilar of El Salvador under CONCACAF and he will only be 31 then.

What is also of particular interest to us in Nigeria is the fact that the five distinguished countries under CAF are Algeria, Benin, Mali, South Africa, and Seychelles. Yes, even Seychelles that is currently ranked 178 by FIFA.

The FIFA Referees Committee, chaired by FIFA Vice-President Angel Maria Villar Llona, concluded the process in October 2008, and based their decision on results from technical, physical, medical, and psychological tests, as well as performances in matches.

When I asked a retired Nigerian referee who is now a match commissioner and whose identity need not be disclosed so that he may not be victimised by the football authorities, why our referees have consistently been ignored by FIFA for its tournaments, his answer was as scathing as it was not surprising. ‘‘There are good referees in Nigeria,‘‘ he began. ‘‘But less than 10% of our FIFA referees got there by merit. Corruption, favouritism, mediocrity, tribalism, age falsification and ignorance, are issues that we must grapple with. It takes at least four years to groom a World Cup referee. But we badge old men here who cannot pass FIFA tests and are even forced to retire before maturity,‘‘ he concluded.

Now, this is where the NFA comes in. Under its statutes, not only is the Nigeria Referees Association a member of the NFA, it is also the NFA‘s responsibility ‘‘to accept, train, classify and control referees in the territory of Nigeria.‘‘ Instead of using this provision to raise the standard of refereeing in Nigeria, what the NFA did in 2007 was to hold the professional league hostage by being embroiled in a protracted dispute with the league board ostensibly over the appointment of referees. And it is evident on a weekly basis in our domestic league that not much is being done to raise their sense of professionalism. On the contrary, when a little over a year ago Coach Kadiri Ikhana laid bare the rot in the league, the immediate response of the sports authorities was to threaten fire and brimstone if he could not prove his allegations. That was hardly the posture of a country that craved credibility.

Of course, as I tried to point out in a previous article, there are excellent referees in Nigeria just as you can find unprofessional and corrupt referees too in other countries. But the good referees may not be assigned important matches because of their uncompromising stance while the bad ones seem to be at liberty to act with impunity.

I recall how difficult matches in Gboko traditionally ended with the infamous ‘‘Gboko penalty‘‘ for the home side and yet nothing was done by the football authorities to stop the regular incident. There was also the case in Jos where the referee allowed 20 minutes added time in a match that was virtually hitch-free just to give the home team the opportunity for a winning goal. And when my team was the unsolicited beneficiary of a referee‘s bias my complaint to the authorities was simply ignored. The referee‘s excuse for disallowing the visiting team‘s potential match winning goal was that he loved the way my team played and he would be heartbroken if we lost that match. The authorities probably thought that I was crazy to protest against assistance to my team even though it was undeserved.

But the main difference between what obtains in Nigeria and countries that are held in high esteem by FIFA is that whereas in those countries when erring referees are caught they are severely punished as a deterrent, here our sanctions, when they are imposed, are like a slap on the wrist. Instead of punitive fines, life bans, and even imprisonment, our usual sanction is rarely more than a reprimand or a few months‘ suspension.

In any event, a country‘s image in the World Cup is not projected only by participating teams. Many teams strive to have their referees there as well. Others that may not qualify may at least have their referees running the show. That is why it is not only our coaches and players that should toil to make us proud. Our football authorities too should be alive to their responsibility to raise the standard of refereeing in Nigeria to the highest attainable in any part of the world, so that our referees too may be considered good enough for the World Cup.

Source: The Punch (Nigeria)