Sports
157 Referees Fail Fitness Test
About 30 per cent of referees who participated in the National Fitness Test of the Nigeria
(Football) Referees Association last week failed to make the mark, the association has said.
According to the test’s analysis made available on Tuesday in Abuja by the association’s National Publicity Secretary,
Mrs Serah Adebisi, 157 of the 506 participants failed.
The Tidesports reports that 347 participants passed in the test which took place at the Abuja National Stadium from Nov. 22 to Nov. 26, 2011.
Lagos which had the highest number of 37 participants also had the highest number of 30 successful candidates, with Oyo
closely behind with 25 of 34 candidates being successful.
Kaduna also had 19 of its 26 candidates coming out successful, while Niger had only 13 of its 25 candidates passing the test.
Plateau had the biggest success rate with only two of its 24 candidates failing, while the FCT had eight of its 23 participants
failing.
Benue also had 14 candidates successful out of 23, Ondo had 13 of its 20 candidates passing, while Abia had eight candidates failing out of 19.
Also, Kwara had 13 successful out of 19, Imo with 12 of 19 successful and Rivers with 14 successful out of 18, while Bauchi had all its 17 candidates coming out successful.
Yobe and Zamfara were as successful as Bauchi, with five and four candidates respectively, while Sokoto and Kebbi had one candidate unsuccessful out of eight and four candidates respectively.
Borno which presented two candidates had both of them failing, while Jigawa with four and Ebonyi with six had only one candidate each coming out successful.
Tidesports reports that the test which had participants from the 36 states of the federation and the FCT had consisted 150 metres in 32 secs, shuttle walking races and 12 rounds of 300 metres races.
Speaking to The Tidesports on the test result, NRA President Ahmed Maude said the successful candidates would be grouped for use in both the Premier League or the Nigerian National League (NNL).
He said they would join the 48 others who had taken part in the FIFA Fitness Test which took place some months ago.
“We will now put them into groups for selection to officiate in the two leagues on the basis of their grades and performance in the test.
“They will be joined by the 26 FIFA-badged referees and the 22 young referee talents we had earlier identified for development.
“These ones had already done their test earlier during the FIFA Fitness Test, and have thus qualified to officiate in the two
leagues by virtue of their status and past performances,’’ he said.
Maude however said the unsuccessful candidates still have a chance to redeem themselves.
“As it is now, they can’t take part in officiating in the leagues, based on the result. But we will give them another chance in February, when there will be another test,” he said.
Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has said that criticism that he and other players chased money by moving to Saudi Arabia is wide of the mark.
The 33-year-old left Chelsea for Al-Ahli in a £16m ($21.4m) deal in 2023, and in May the Africa Cup of Nations winner helped his Saudi club win the Asian Champions League, making him one of the few players to win both that competition and its European equivalent.
But, like many others, Mendy has been criticised for playing for money rather than prestige in the lucrative Saudi Pro League.
When asked about such criticism, Mendy told a Tidesports source, “Al-Ahli’s project came along and they made me feel I had a big role to play.
“Two years later, we won the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. So yes, that validates my choice. And I hope the coming years will validate it even more.”
He added: “Some people will quickly jump to conclusions and say the only reason is money. From the start, I always said that when I left Chelsea, I knew I was joining another team where I could win everything , which was no longer the case at Chelsea.”
The Blues have since won the Conference League, Europe’s third-tier club competition, under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
But it comes after the regime’s trophyless first two years, a period which has frustrated some supporters after the success enjoyed under Roman Abramovich’s stewardship in the previous 19 years.
Mendy has also been celebrating what he describes as a historical win with Senegal against England at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, but days earlier he had been in Dakar delivering a different kind of win.
He is the sponsor of Yakaar, a school in Keur Massar, which seeks to improve funding and access to digital learning tools for local children from underprivileged backgrounds.
Famously, as Mendy grew up in France, he was unemployed, aged 22, while struggling to find a club, with members of his family still living on the outskirts of Dakar.
That is why Yakaar, a word meaning “hope”, was chosen, a word Mendy has carried with him in his career.
“Hope is what kept me going. When I was without a club, it was the hope of getting that first professional contract.
“Then the hope of playing for the national team. The hope of making my family proud by doing the job I had always dreamed of.
“Indeed, hope is the best word to describe my career.”
Mendy was also asked whether the responsibility of being an African goalkeeper had weighed heavily on him.
“Of course. When I was in England, there weren’t many African goalkeepers in top clubs,” he admitted.
“Whether nationally or internationally, I had that responsibility. It’s the same for other African goalkeepers like Andre Onana [Manchester United] or Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal).”
The entire refereeing committee has been fired by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), with structural reforms soon set to follow.
According to sources, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has dismissed the entire refereeing committee in response to mounting pressure from clubs demanding structural reform. A major shake-up aimed at modernising Spanish refereeing from top to bottom has now been set in motion.
Head of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), Luis Medina Cantalejo and Head of VAR, Carlos Clos Gomez, have been removed from their positions. They are joined by several senior officials, including Antonio Rubinos Perez and three vice presidents, who are also stepping down. A new leadership model will be introduced, led by a CEO and a sporting director, aiming to overhaul how refereeing is managed covering assessments, promotions, and daily operations. While the leadership changes are sweeping, the current pool of referees in La Liga and the second tier will remain, ensuring continuity on the field during the transition.
Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a new two-year contract with Al-Nassr that means he will stay with the Saudi Pro League club until beyond his 42nd birthday.
The Portugal captain, 40, joined the Riyadh-based team in December 2022 after leaving Manchester United in acrimonious circumstances, having criticised the club and said he had no respect for manager Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr deal had been due to expire at the end of June and there was speculation he could leave, but that has now been quashed.
In a post on X, Ronaldo wrote: “A new chapter begins. Same passion, same dream. Let’s make history together.”
Although Al-Nassr have not added to their nine domestic titles during Ronaldo’s time at the club, they have benefited from a flood of goals from the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Ronaldo scored 35 times in 41 matches across all competitions last term and was the league’s top scorer for a second consecutive season.
He has managed 99 goals in appearances overall for Al-Nassr and is well on his way to reaching 1,000 senior goals in his career, with a current tally of 938 for club and country.
Having helped Portugal win the Uefa Nations League a little over two weeks ago, the former Manchester United, Real Madrid, Sporting and Juventus forward will almost certainly now be targeting a sixth World Cup appearance next summer.
Only a month ago, Ronaldo posted on social media to say “the chapter is over”.
That came after the Saudi Pro League wrapped up with Al-Nassr finishing third and trophyless once again.
The comment fuelled rumours that Ronaldo was ready to leave the league where he reportedly became the best-paid player in football history with an annual salary of £177m when he joined.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino raised the prospect of Ronaldo joining a team involved in the Club World Cup after Al-Nassr failed to qualify for the extended tournament which is being held in the United States.
Ronaldo said he had received offers from participating teams but had turned them down.
The decision to stay until at least 2027, which is certain to be highly lucrative, appears to rule out any future prospect of Ronaldo returning to play at the highest level in Europe.