The Nigeria Football Federation Refereeing Development Committee, has issued a warning against errors of judgement in officiating by referees in the Nigeria Premier Football League.
In a practice directive titled “Instructions and warnings to all NPFL Referees and Assistant Referees” and signed by Mohammed Ameenu, the memo started by commending the referees for the prevailing good performances after six matchdays.
”The 2026/2027 NPFL season has reached an advanced stage and we have witnessed several excellent performances from some of you while on duty,” the memo read.
”Equally, we have witnessed wrong calls, some of which are errors of judgment while others are gross misrepresentation of the content and context of the Laws of the Game 2026 as Amended.”
It went on to state that it has become necessary to remind the referees of their duties, obligations and responsibilities towards upholding the principle of equity, fairness and standard interpretations and applications of the Laws of the Game.
“In order to ensure that matches are prosecuted without any form of negative tendencies in refereeing decisions, the NFF Acting General Secretary has further instructed the existing Monitoring Committee to deploy personnel to each match centres,” the memo stated.
“…And be more vigilant in ensuring that the integrity of the NPFL matches and football generally are preserved as well as protected.”
“The Monitoring Committee is mandated to directly report actions and inactions of Match Officials to the Ag. General Secretary for appropriate actions,” the memo said.
It directed all Referees and Assistant Referees in the ongoing season to carry out their duties diligently, truthfully and fairly to all concerned without fear or favours.
Sounding a note of consequential official response, the memo noted that
“All Referees and Assistant Referees are warned that anyone who disregard these instructive guidelines and act in manners capable of bringing the integrity of the game into disrepute shall not only be dismissed from Refereeing but shall equally be handed over to security agencies for prosecution for sabotage and match fixing,” the memo stated.
