By Ime Bassey
The Nigerian Premier League goes on a two week recess for players transfer and technical retreat with stakeholders grieving over the poor state of officiating.

But the board’s acting Secretary General, Mr. Tunji Babalola said that “as we are concerned, officiating of the league matches in the first half has been wonderful. We cannot say that all the officials have done well or not but we need to give them kudos. We need to encourage them so they can put more effort in the second stanza of the league.”

Bukola Babes’ Abdulkadiri Aminu, who was red carded over the weekend against Sunshine Stars of Akure in Ijebu-Ode disagrees with Babalola, stressing that the officials have shown some bias towards some teams as he appealed to them to give every team a level playing field.

“I am appealing to the league board to let every team play their game so we all will know who the real winner is at the end of the season. If this is how they want to continue, then I think it will take us a long time to get there. Referees only support the home teams because of reasons best known to them.”

Another official who believes the referees are killing the game is Zamfara United coach, Alhassan Mohammed whose team lost to Sunshine Stars in Kano in a re-scheduled match.

“If there is good organization, you can win or lose anywhere in the country. The team we play today (March 9, 2011), I am very sure bribed the referee because they have strong financial muscle which we do not have.

The referee that blew the game cannot try it in a place like Akure, they will lynch him. He is the worst I have ever seen this season. I am appealing to the NPL to do away with bad referees like him who are bringing the game to disrepute,” Mohammed complained.

Officiating can’t be 100 percent but ….. Erico

By KATE OBODO

Former Super Eagles assistant Joe Erico has said the issue of poor  officiating in the league cannot  be totally  eradicated but believes  with strict order, it could improve .

In a chat with Inside Out Premier league, Erico said referees are human beings and are prone to mistakes, stressing that poor officiating cannot be eradicated but could be reduced.

“Already, the league has been  doing very well under the circumstances . You can rarely satisfy every body, some people might be satisfied while others may not, but  you like it or not the league must be played. I had the opportunity of watching the Arsenal game last week and there were complaints  on an unreasonable  red card issued to a  player.

The most important thing is that the game has been  played,  won and  lost, irrespective of what happened. Remember the referee is just one person in the midst of crowds.  I have my level of assessing referees. If my striker can throw a goal he thinks is very  obvious, then while can’t a referees make a mistake that he thinks is obvious.

We are all human beings, that is just the way I look at it. Officiating in any match or league can never be too fantastic, and can never be 100 percent. Even at FIFA level, it has not been  perfect.

“The only way is to punish the culprits when such act is committed. If a referee does not do well in a match, the best that can be done is to punish or fine the referee just as  it is done in Europe. That is the only way I think poor officiating can be brought down to a certain level because it cannot be totally eradicated,” he said.