Tunde Popoola, President, Nigeria Basketball Referees Council, has said that the lingering crisis in the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) has stalled the annual clinic for referees in the country.

Popoola told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview on Thursday that referees were expected to undergo annual training to keep abreast of developments in officiating.

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"To ensure that referees are up to date with the latest officiating techniques, we are expected to have annual clinics for training and retraining, in line with recent rule changes.

"We are supposed to hold national clinics every year, but we have not organised any for some time now.

"We rely mainly on competitions and regional clinics to update our officials.

"Where possible, we also review rules during competitions," he said.

He added that Nigeria currently has six active certified referees under the FIBA.

"The six comprise five males and one female. From my assessment of their technical abilities, their performance is clearly above average."

Popoola said that common errors observed during games were being consistently addressed.

"I have observed that some referees struggle with game management, including game flow, understanding the feel of the game and controlling the team bench.

"Engaging game assessors during competitions should help to minimise issues related to game management and other challenges in our matches," he said. (NAN)

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