By

Ezindu Okay - Lawrence 

It is known everywhere that when a football match is being played, there is the need for a team of jurists, or better still, to use the more appropriate term, referees who are expected to ensure that the game is played according to laid-down rules.

Whether the game is official or unofficial, without someone managing the affairs of participants and acting as the umpire, its success will be seriously flawed. 

The importance of  referees in a football game cannot be overemphasized.

In recent years from across the world, we have seen very dastardly and condemnable attacks on referees who were in the rights of their job and vocation. Some have had to abandon such games and run for their lives while some have had to abruptly retire from the hobby they cherish because of  decisions they had to make which no matter how justified or lawful such decisions may be, there are those who are negatively affected by it. At other times, the strong emotions attached to football with the rush of adrenaline in the heat of the moment have driven fans, players and officials to attack  referees for such decisions. 

Referees have continued to offer their services regardless of the hazards  and unwanted stigma that this cherished hobby bring to their persons.

Referees deserve huge credit and applause because without them, one can only imagine what a football game would be like. The presence of a referee ensures that the game is played according to its precepts and gives taste to the beautiful art called football. 

In Nigeria, it is not different. We have had (though regrettably) our fair share of loss of lives  in the line of duty in this vocation. A few years ago, a very young gentleman and one of the brightest football referees coming up was reported to have passed on after being involved in a ghastly motor accident while returning from his duty as a center referee in a top League match in Nigeria. There are many others who have had to suffer various degrees of injuries either by attacks by football hooligans or by other accidents experienced while responding to that call of duty. 

Meanwhile, what many football followers do not realize is that referees and refereeing is not just a job for the faint-hearted or the cowardly.  

To become a referee, you must go through rigorous training exercises and medical tests. Often times, referees work as hard as the players and sometimes more because they have to be fit and able to interpret the situations and appropriately apply the laws and punishments withing few seconds in a way that it adds beauty to the game while providing the fun it brings. 

Referees are made to undergo fitness tests and passed fit, sit for classes, go through courses and write examinations to be qualified before being crested with badges to  officiate professional games. The job of a referee may not be entirely so much fun (to the referee) given certain circumstances but fans barely see the beauty that they add to the game. 

Today, I have chosen to give them their rightful accolades and flowers.

However, it does not go without saying that as it is also with other spheres of life, there are few bad eggs and corrupt individuals who have smuggled their way in with greed and evil-mindedness being their biggest motives. 

This evil is not only exclusive to any locality or league; it is a human thing. Therefore wherever humans are, these tendencies will surface to rob people of the entertainment they wish to derive from the game. Yes, even among the disciples of Our Lord Jesus Christ, there was that vile Judas Iscariot. 

So, we have seen in many situations that some of these men have decided to dent the beautiful game with their corrupt and bribe-collecting attitudes all in a bid to pervert justice. This is terrible and has become worse by the day.

In Nigeria, it has been quiet a journey this season as many top flight teams as well as  second tier teams have had their fair share of complaints and bad taste of football due to negative officiating in the country. This has led to many issues and protests from participants and has left some bad taste in the mouths of many followers.

Therefore it has become important that we the football fans and general stakeholders in the beautiful game, call on but our local football federations and FIFA to find an urgent solution to the ills that glaring bad or corrupt refereeing brings to the game.

We have known through the years the slogan "Referee's decisions are final" and knowing now that some of these referee's are humans with fallible tendencies, wouldn't it be wiser that in the case there are contestable situations and obvious wrong calls, that after quick review, there could be a fairer solution to fall back to and a better and more suitable result. 

I personally will suggest a replay for some games of that sort especially when appeals are won, or a shared point and goals in other cases.

I am just trying to find a way to see how justice can be available to everyone, fair enough that it would not remove the drama and fun that makes our beautiful game arguably the best entertainment it is at the moment.

I do hope those who matter in places of authority and reason with my thoughts and even more, just to bring justice and fairness to the table without football losing its tasteful souse.

I appeal that these be looked into as the curtains on 2023/2024 football calendar year falls across almost all leagues of the world.

As it is commonly said... "There is no end to learning" and there is always a better way to perform a task.

Why not JUST DO IT!