Last Friday, CAF released a list of 94 officials, instructors, and assessors shortlisted for the training programme, with no Nigerian representative included.
Reacting to the development, the President of the Nigeria Referees Association, Sanni Zubair, admitted that Nigerian referees failed to meet CAF’s qualification standards, revealing that the country currently has only one elite referee — who did not pass the recent CAF test.
“To be honest, we are not qualified to be there. Being a FIFA referee doesn’t automatically mean you meet CAF’s elite requirements. Our only elite referee didn’t pass the test,” Zubair said.
He explained that the exclusion was due to fitness and theoretical shortfalls, as well as inadequate hands-on experience with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system.
“We have referees who are doing well, but it’s like being in a university — there are levels. Once they pass the elite test, we’ll be back on track,” he added.
In February, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) decorated 30 FIFA referees, including 11 referees, 11 assistant referees, four futsal referees, and four beach soccer referees. Despite this, CAF did not consider any of them for AFCON duties.
One of the FIFA-badged referees, who spoke anonymously, insisted that Nigerian referees are capable but suggested that political influence might also play a role in CAF’s selection.
“Some countries have two or three referees; it’s not that they’re better. Aside from AFCON, Nigerian referees still get CAF assignments. But I think NFF also needs to play the politics at that level,” he said.
With this latest exclusion, Nigeria will once again have no referee representation at Africa’s biggest football tournament.
