Only 50 referees for 2015/2016 NPFL – Fresh
By; Onjewu Jacob Dickson, Kaduna.
There would be serious jostling for slots to officiate the 2015/2016 Nigerian Professional Football League season, as plans have been concluded to reduce the number of referees by more than 50 per cent.
Executive Committee member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Honourable Ahmed Yusuf Fresh disclosed this while speaking to newsmen in Kaduna.
According to him, the need to reduce the number is coming up because the NFF wants to only appoint referees that have good records on the performance chart for the 2014/2015 season.
“A total of 113 centre referees participated in the 2014/2015 season but I want to trim it down to 50,” he disclosed.
Fresh explained that the English Premier League (EPL) which is a model for most leagues around the world do not engage more than 50 referees in a season.
It would be recalled that last weekend in Kaduna, a grassroots soccer competition in honour of Fresh ended, in recognition of his contribution to the development of grassroots sports in the country.
