Nigeria: Afcon 2023 - Minister Expresses Displeasure Over Exclusion of Nigerian Referees

15 September 2023
Premium Times (Abuja)
By Agency Report

Mr Owan-Enoh noted that, without prejudice, the development calls for a reflection of the institutional setting within which we administer sports

The absence of Nigerian referees on the official match officials list for the 2023 AFCON scheduled for Cote d'Ivoire in January 2024 upset John Owan-Enoh, Minister of Sports Development.

Mr Owan-Enoh stated this on Thursday in Abuja while reacting to the list of match officials released by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) ahead of the tournament scheduled for January 2024.

He said that given Nigeria's football pedigree and population, the country should not be in such a predicament, which has become a trend.

The minister promised to hold engagements with relevant stakeholders, such as the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), and Nigeria Referees Association (NRA), among others, to reverse the trend.

"At the last AFCON (2021), Nigeria only had one assistant referee listed amongst the match officials. Two years prior, we didn't have any centre referees too.

"Going into the next AFCON (2023), we still won't have any Nigerian officials. I am going to interrogate this matter.

"We will have engagements with the NFF, the Referees' Association, and the League Board because we need to get to the bottom of this," he said.

Mr Owan-Enoh noted that, without prejudice to the outcome, the development calls for a reflection of the institutional setting within which sports is administered in the country.

He reiterated his commitment to ensuring that sports across all facets thrive in the country, for Nigeria to stand tall in the comity of nations.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that CAF on Tuesday unveiled 85 referees, comprising centre referees, assistant referees, VARs, and technical instructors, for the 2023 AFCON, and no Nigerian official was included.

NAN reports that Egypt and Algeria, both in North Africa, have three names listed in the centre referees list, followed by Morocco, Mauritania, and Mauritius, each with two. Other nations on the list include Gabon, Ghana, Benin, Congo, Somalia, and others.

The assistant referees list includes two representatives from each of Morocco, Kenya, Cote d'Ivoire, Algeria, Egypt, and South Africa, as well as lesser-known nations like Comoros, Djibouti, Burkina Faso, and Sao Tome and Principe.

There are four VAR referees chosen from Mauritius, South Africa, Morocco, and Egypt. They chose the following nations for the technical instructors and physical trainers: Zimbabwe, Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Morocco, and Djibouti.

The 2023 AFCON finals, which are scheduled to take place from 13 January to 11 February 2024, will feature 24 nations vying for the championship, including Nigeria's Super Eagles.

NAN

Read the original article on Premium Times.

Tagged:
Copyright © 2023 Premium Times. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.