The Referees Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation takes this opportunity to express their appreciation to all of you who have offerred to continue to serve as Referee Assessors in the various national football competitions particularly the elite competition – the Premier League – and the immediate lower league – the Nigeria National League [NNL].
With the mandate of the Committee, this Circular will address critical issues arising from the performance of the referee assessors this season with a view to mapping out guidelines for improving further the current approach to refereeing assessment in the various competitions.
Mixed Experiences
So far the experiences have been mixed – we have observed some real efforts to turn in technically sound and very analytical assessment reports; we have also noticed that some assessors simply lift remarks from the FIFA on-line assessment format without sufficient appreciation of the appropriateness of those remarks.
Under the “Control of the Game” for example, some of the assessors had presented positive remarks about their referees’ performance only to contradict themselves under “Areas for Improvement” or under “Fitness”.
It is absolutely not convincing that referees whose overall performances had been rated 8.0 and above are described, at same time, as possessing ‘Weak’ stamina and needed to improve on their movements and positioning’.
Generalisation of Remarks
Very few of the referee assessors are still sticking to the old approach to assessment reportage. Such reports expose the writers as lacking the basic technical analytical mind.
Indeed it has been disappointing to read the reports of the assessors who always described the referees’ performances in general terms. Two typical examples are hereby presented: Under the column in the Referee Assessors’ form on‘Control of Game’ for example, these assessors describe that the referees had “showed impressive evidence of thorough knowledge of the interpretation and application of the Laws.......and had managed the match very well”. Such assessors needed to be specific with some examples that corroborate the assertion.
The second example is, for instance, under Team Work. Some of the reports simply presented general statements which often stated that ‘the referees had cooperated to ensure successful matches’ is really not helpful in exposing the level of involvement of the refereeing team. What is really needed should be reports that state in concrete terms brief explanations of some specific actions of co-operation that bordered on team work.
For those who decide to use the assessment template provided by the online forms, there are additional columns on the forms that require the Referee Assessors to express additional but personal observations on the refereeing crew. The ability to offer concrete and original recommendations marks out the class of each assessor.
No Meaningful Pre-match Briefings
Another group of the current referee assessors do not conduct pre-match discussions with the referees, assistant referees and the Fourth Officials.This ‘apparent negligence’ is often because they [the assessors] are handicapped; they maybe fearing that their technical knowledge and expertise are far below the experience of the match officials they are meant to supervise. Some of the referees had indeed complained that their referee assessors did not add value to their efforts to conduct their games.
The Referee Assessor should really be a knowledgable and experienced instructor and a counsellor whose technical and psychological experience should be higher than those of the match officials he is about to supervise. The referees expect their Assessors to be an embodiment of experience who will always be well disposed to guide them through technical difficulties particularly challeges arising from the current extensive Amendments to the Laws of the Game.
Match Jottings
There is this growing number of Referee Assessors that simply sits through enjoying the matches without actually recording a single incident during their games. To the Assessors who belong to this Group, the use of official Match Jotters for Minute-by-Minute performance records would appear too much of a burden.
These jottings are vital match records that help the Referee Assessors to draw some conclusions when writing their Match Reports – indeed a vital document sought after by the NFF Referees Committee. Unfortunately some assessors do not turn in the assessors’ jottings with their Match Reports inspite of the often stressed importance of this document.
From the date of this Circular, the Referees Committee will consider it a very serious negligence on the part of Referee Assessors and may be obliged to reject as incomplete Referee Assessors Match Reports without the Attachment.
Rating of Referees
The Referees Committee is now very worried that the purpose of refereeing assessment is being frustrated by a number of the present crop of referee asessors. Taking for example the Assessment Reports of the referees and assistant referees of the 2016/2017 Premier League so far, [having read through almost one hundred and ten Assessors’ Reports as at the date of this Circular], it is obvious that only a small number of the Assessors had the clear perception of what they are expected to do.
The bases of their ratings of the referees and the assistant referees during the games, had no bearing whatsoever with the assessment parametres and incidents during the matches. A good number of the assessors are too generous in awarding marks; and naturally a few others had been observed as ‘stingy markers’. With the level of the technical deficiencies during matches, there is this fear that most referee assessors shy away from awarding realistic ratings of those they had assessed for whatever reasons. If this were not the case, how can it be explained that they only a couple of referees and their officiating teams were rated less than eight [8] marks out of ten marks in their matches. This was surely not the reality.
The off-the-cuff marks some of the Referee Assessors were awarding had not been helpful in determining the true performance status of the referees and assistant referees. Bloated marks give false sense of their level of performance particularly for the new generation of referees and assistant referees that had been promoted to the elite league recently.
All referee assessors are expected to be guided by the latest FIFA marking format on every Referee Assessment Form, adapted for the Nigerian use by the Referees Committee, which has a section devoted to the parametres for the rating of referees.This implies that all referee assessors must be technically sound to appreciate the circumstances that will demand the award or deduction of marks from performing referees and assistant referees.
Please use the new form – a copy is hereby attached.
Again the Referees Committee has been having some challenges reading through some Assessors’ reports because of unclear handwriting in some cases. To minimize the possibility of mistakes and misrepresentation, the Committee is now directing that from the second half of the 2017 Premier League competition, all reports are to be type-written please. Bold/Capital letters may be accepted as an alternative under certain circumstances.
An Overview of Refereeing Assessment
On a final note, the Referees Committee would like to offer you a kind of framework as a focus when assigned to assess referees in matches.
You will agree that at varying levels referees are trained to appreciate the Laws of the Game; and their interpretations as well as their application. Again referees are ensured to be in sound medical condition to be to meet the physical fitness demands to undertake such rigorous and responsible assignment as officiating in football matches. Additionally the referees are also schooled on how best to apply psychology in refereeing their matches.
The NFF Referees Committee expects Referees and Assistant Referees to appreciate that all the foregoing are tools at their disposal to MANAGE games and players antics on the field of play. Expertise in the knowledge of the Laws; developing the athletic status and the acquisition of the skill to apply psychology appropriately and effectively are not really the end on their own. It is the ability to use those tools to manage match activities should be the focus of referees and their teams.
The role of the Referee Assessors is therefore to assist the referees and their teams prepare well for their matches by pre-match briefings and thereafter seated comfortably to assess how the games have been managed effectively using those tools.
We will not go wrong if we all commit ourselves to support the referees to officiate successful matches.
Thank you all; and on behalf of the Referees Committee wish you every luck in your assignments. Please find attached a copy of the [Most Current] Referee Assessor’s Match Report Form and a sample of the Referee Assessor’s Match Jotters.
Warmest regards
LINUS MBA
Consultant Refereeing
Nigeria Football Federation &
FIFA Technical Adviser – Refereeing.
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