Tag: FIFA

Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh has urged Nigerian referees to deepen and strengthen their professionalism in order to attract greater participation in FIFA and CAF flagged competitions.

 Speaking during his interactive session with participants  at the 2024 FIFA Member Association Refereeing Development Course, the minister regretted that Nigerian referees are not playing critical roles in both FIFA and CAF competitions as a result of failure to reach the performance and professional threshold set out by both international bodies.

Describing the situation whereby Nigerian referees are neglected and relegated to the background in the perking order by FIFA and CAF as unacceptable, he said that the current administration would do everything within its powers to reverse this ugly trend.

 The Minister stated that his engagement with the referees was part of ongoing efforts by him to get to the root of the problem and proffer solutions to solve the problem.

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He recalled that at inception as minister, one of the early engagements that he initiated was to invite referees and critical stakeholders in sports for a parley when his attention was drawn to the fact that no Nigerian referee was considered qualified enough to officiate in the just concluded CAF flagged African Cup of Nations.

He said: “I thought that this was unacceptable. It was for this reason that I started series of engagements with Referee Associations, the NFF and other critical stakeholders. Sadly, even in the next AFCON, no Nigerian referee was listed to participate in officiating duties by CAF. This is a shame. As a country, it is important that we get right things that we are not doing right to change this ugly narrative.”

He challenged the elite referees to raise the bar in terms of their commitment to improving their professionalism adding that government is ready to support and work closely with them to put an end to this neglect.

Responding to the Minister, the lead FIFA Technical Instructor, Felix Tangwarinma thanked the Minister for his commitment to the development of Nigerian referees. He observed that not too long ago, Nigerian referees were doing very well as officials in international competitions but regretted that lack of continuity left a huge gap when they retired. The FIFA Technical Instructor stated that that training was part of ongoing efforts to close the gap.

He explained that one of the major problems that impacted the relegation of Nigerian referees in FIFA and CAF organized competitions is the fact that presently, there is no Nigerian referee is certified to officiate with VAR. He said that as a country, Nigeria needs to train the referees with VAR to enable them cover the required number of hours stipulated by FIFA and CAF to enable them to be picked to officiate in championships.

The FIFA instructor informed the Minister that the VAR equipment was very expensive to procure. Given the huge financial exposure, he called on the sports ministry to assist with funding since NFF may not be able to fund the procurement of the required number of VAR to be deployed for use in the national league. In the interim he suggested that Nigeria can bridge the gap by sending referees for VAR training in countries like Morocco and Tunisia while it puts its house in order.

A five-day, all-encompassing training programme for Nigeria’s intermediate referees will come to an end with a closing ceremony scheduled for the NFF/FIFA Goal Project, MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja today.

Classroom sessions for the 40 participants have included group discussions on penalty-area incidents, tactical fouls, recovery strategy, offside, handball and the challenges that confront the men-of-the-whistle. The course began on Monday with a fitness test for all the referees, followed by a clarification of the course objectives and video presentation on modern refereeing.

There have also been on-field sessions with players and mini-matches with players, all with the objective of preparing the intermediate officials for the next step up the ladder to elite level.

Today, there will be a concluding session on the practical training, as well as a presentation on the new concept for match preparation, before the closing ceremony that commences at 2.30pm.

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The overall objectives of the course include identifying, harnessing and nurturing refereeing potentials inherent in the participants, instituting a sustainable development trend through the Young Talent Program, establishing a crop of talented young referees for national and international refereeing programs and ensuring continuous growth and development of refereeing in Nigeria.

The program has been superintended by two FIFA instructors, namely former FIFA referee Felix Tangawarima from Zimbabwe (FIFA Senior Technical Instructor and COSAFA VAR Project Manager) and Mark Mzengo from Malawi (FIFA Fitness Instructor).    

On Sunday, 7th July, another five-day course, this time for Nigeria’s elite referees, will commence at the NFF/FIFA Goal Project, MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja. The principal objective of this course, which will also involve 40 participants, is to generally improve the lot of Nigeria’s foremost arbiters.

 FIFA will host its first ever FIFAe World Cup of Football Manager this year to crown the best virtual manager on the highly-popular video game, world soccer’s governing body has said .

FIFA is partnering with Sports Interactive, the developers of the game that has sold millions of copies and has also been used by several football clubs to scout players and opponents thanks to its extensive database.

Players will compete for $100,000 in prize money in the final event from Aug. 29 to Sept. 1.

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“This competition requires participants to demonstrate a profound understanding of football strategy and tactics,” said former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who is the ambassador for the esports event.

“Success demands not only mastery of game mechanics but also in-depth football knowledge, making this format a fascinating blend.”

FIFA said in the inaugural year of the event, selected member associations will be invited to be represented at the final event.

Member associations from all six confederations are expected to be invited while players can sign up on FIFA’s website.

History will be made in Colombia with the introduction of an alternative to VAR called the Football Video Support (FVS).

Football Video Support (FVS), an alternative to VAR, is to be used on a trial basis at the upcoming FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup

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According to FIFA, the trial follows numerous requests from member associations for an alternative, cost-effective way to use technology to support match officials.

In response to those requests, FIFA has developed FVS, which, unlike the video assistant referee system, does not use dedicated video match officials and therefore does not check all match-changing incidents.

A Spanish judge ordered soccer ruling bodies FIFA and UEFA to halt their opposition to a parallel European competition known as the European Super League (ESL), ruling they were practising anticompetitive behaviour and abusing their dominant position.

Judge Sofia Gil Garcia ruled that the governing bodies violated European Union law by banning clubs from participating in a proposed new professional soccer championship, a court statement said on

In the ruling, Gil Garcia also ordered FIFA and UEFA to immediately reverse any anticompetitive actions committed in the past.

The case was brought by A22 Sports Management, the sports development company behind the plan to create the ESL, against the Spanish Soccer Federation, Spain’s LaLiga, UEFA and FIFA, who had blocked the ESL.

“The era of the monopoly is now definitively over,” A22 CEO Bernd Reichart said in a statement after the ruling, calling it “an important step towards a truly competitive and sustainable club football landscape in Europe”.

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Reichart added that UEFA had stifled innovation for decades and clubs “should not have to fear threats of sanctions simply for having ideas and conversations”.

Gil Garcia’s ruling followed a similar decision by the European Court of Justice in December.

Both La Liga and UEFA insisted the ruling did not explicitly support the creation of the Super League.

“The judgment does not give third parties the right to develop competitions without authorisation and does not concern any future project or indeed any modified version of an existing project,” UEFA said in a statement.

The proposal in 2021 of a breakaway league by Europe’s 12 leading clubs sparked widespread protests among fans and threats of sanctions by UEFA, leading nine of them to pull out.

A22 had said UEFA and FIFA held a monopolistic position that breached the EU’s Competition and Free Movement Law.

The ECJ ruled against UEFA and FIFA, though it did not comment specifically on whether the ESL could go ahead.

Fifa has proposed a five-pillar plan to tackle racist abuse in football.

The sport’s world governing body said it had undergone an “extensive consultation process” with current and former players who “are passionate about making change”.

One of the plan’s proposals would see the introduction of a standard crossed-hands gesture for players to communicate racist incidents during matches.

The ‘Global Stand Against Racism’ proposal will be presented to Fifa’s 211 members at its annual congress in Bangkok on Thursday.

The first pillar of the proposal intends to make racism a specific offence which is included in all member associations’ disciplinary codes and has its own “specific and severe sanctions, including match forfeits”.

Fifa said it will “pause, suspend and abandon games in cases of racism”.

The crossed-hands gesture will be used by referees to signal an in-game procedure in which matches are paused twice and warnings are given, with the game to then be abandoned in the event of further racism.

In pillar three – ‘criminal charges’ – Fifa called for racism to be recognised as a criminal offence in every country, and said it would push for severe sanctions in the countries where it is already an offence.

Fifa also said it would promote education initiatives with schools and governments to “provide a future free of racism”, while an anti-racism panel made up of former players will be set up to review the progress of the proposal.

Earlier this year, Brazil and Real Madrid winger Vinicius Jr said he felt “less and less” like playing football because he had suffered repeated racist abuse.

Last year, a Fifa report found almost 20,000 abusive social media posts were aimed at players, coaches and officials during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

And in 2021, England manager Gareth Southgate called the racist abuse aimed at Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after the Euro 2020 final “unforgivable”.

The first-quarter FIFA fitness test for Nigerian international referees holds today ( 20th February)  at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.

Medical tests were conducted on the referees yesterday.

Special Assistant to the NFF General Secretary and Coordinator of Refereeing Development in Nigeria, Mr. Mohammed Adebayo Ameenu said the 30 Nigerian referees listed for international duty this year will be decorated with their badges at a ceremony inside the NFF/FIFA Goal Project on Wednesday, 21st February.

The 30 individuals are made up of seven men referees, seven men assistant referees, four women referees, four women assistant referees, four beach soccer referees and four futsal referees. One of the beach soccer referees, Jelili Ogunmuyiwa is presently on duty at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup ongoing in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

REFEREES (MEN):Ogabor Joseph;Grema Mohammed;Basheer Salih;Kassim Abdulsalam;Abubakar Abdullahi;Nurudeen Abubakar;Patrick Egba.

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ASSISTANT REFEREES (MEN):Igho Hope;Samuel Pwadutakam;Yakubu Mohammad;Ahmed Tijjani;Igudia Efosa Celestine;Digbori Tejiri;Usman Abdulmajeed Olaide.

REFEREES (WOMEN):Hannah Elaigwu;Yemisi Akintoye;Ndidi Madu;Alaba Olufunmilayo.

ASSISTANT REFEREES (WOMEN):Akpan Friday Mfon; Beauty Kabenda Terah;Abibatu Yusuf;Faith Agbons.

REFEREES (BEACH SOCCER):Ogunmuyiwa Jelili; Fawole Olawale;Olayinka Olajide;Ahmed Rabiu.

REFEREES (FUTSAL):Musa Dung Davou;Paul Umuago;Ukah Ndubuisi;Bello Zuru

Football clubs worldwide spent a record $9.63 billion (8.88 billion euros) on international transfers last year, surpassing the previous record set in 2019 by more than $2 billion, according to a FIFA report.

he latest figures represent a 48.1 percent increase compared to 2022 when transfer spending began to climb again after two years of belt-tightening due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

he top 10 player transfers in 2023 accounted for over 10% of the entire outlay. Those deals included Jude Bellingham’s move to Real Madrid, Enzo Fernandez joining Chelsea and Harry Kane signing for Bayern Munich.

English clubs, led by Chelsea, again topped the list by splashing out a combined $2.96 billion – three times as much as those in France, which placed second on the list.

Clubs from Saudi Arabia broke into the top five spenders for the first time with a combined outlay of $970 million following the notable purchases of Neymar, Sadio Mane and Riyad Mahrez.

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Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema also moved to the Gulf kingdom, but on free transfers.

Chelsea were followed by Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich as the top five biggest-spending teams in 2023.

In contrast, German sides received the most in transfer fees at almost $1.21 billion – boosted by the sales of Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund) and Randal Kolo Muani, who left Eintracht Frankfurt for PSG.

Portuguese clubs brought in the greatest numbers of players from abroad with 1,017 incoming transfers, while Brazil exported the most with a total of 1,217.

The FIFA report also highlighted the “impressive growth” of the transfer market in women’s football.

In 2023, a total of 623 women’s clubs were involved in international transfers, up from 507 the year prior.

Some 1,888 players moved from one country to another as well, surpassing the 1,571 in 2022, and generating record annual spending of $6.1 million – up 84.2 percent from 2022.