Kunle Adelabu
A retired FIFA badge referee, Mr Jelili Ogunmuyiwa, has claimed that most of the criticisms by football fans, especially Nigerians against officiating at the ongoing AFCON tournament in Morocco, were due to ignorance of the new laws of the game.
He said that officials at the tournament, who have been exposed to the new laws before the tournament, only implemented the provisions of the laws and rated the general officiating at 8.5/10. He also commended the Ghanaian referee, Mr Daniel Nii Laryea, whose handling of the Nigeria versus Morocco semi -final match sparked fury among the Nigerians, with players and fans alike questioning several decisions that they think favoured the host country.
The retired referee spoke with our reporter who just returned back to Nigeria, from Morocco where he had gone to cover the tournament.
“The ongoing AFCON has really exposed the referees to the world as some of the new terms in the laws of the game implementation are strange to the fans. The referees have been able to explore the teachings in pre-tournament courses, and that’s why it’s so technical for fans to comprehend.
“So far, so good, officiating has been good and I will rate it at 8.5/10″, he said.
Ogunmuyiwa, also assessing the performance of the centre referee for the Wednesday’s semi – final encounter between Nigeria and Morocco, said that the referees performed well and also applauded his decision against the Nigerian defender, Calvin Chinedu Bassey, MON.
“Even me, at the time, was criticizing him in my house, but this is due to the fact I was watching the game emotionally. Yes, there were some calls that weren’t supposed to be but after review, I saw that the referee was right. The yellow card to Bassey, was painful to us but technically, it was a good decision”.
While stating that some of the referees at the AFCON, have been called to officiate at the next world cup, Ogunmuyiwa charged those that will be responsible for the final and the third -place matches to prove that they are the best at the tournament and on the continent.
“Those listed as CAF representatives to the next world cup, are all there. But how far they will go at the world cup will now be determined by their performances at the world cup.
“To the officials of the last two games. This is the stage where you have to give your best and prove CAF right on why it is your set to be in the games”.
