The President of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation, Daniel Ighali, has urged referees to be at their best and ensure error-free performances as the wrestling competition begins at the 22nd National Sports Festival in Ogun State.
Ighali made this statement during the Nigeria Wrestling Federation’s coaches and referees refresher course held in Ikenne, Ogun State.
The course was attended by coaches and referees from various states, with the women’s national team coach, Purity Akuh, serving as one of the instructors. New rules governing the sport were discussed during the session.
“Referees adhering to the rule governing the Sport is important. We had to discard some referees in the past because of some certain reasons. Some will have seen some referees in a particular state while their athletes are competing for another State and they tried to influence some results over there. We don’t want that. The essence of staying neutral is very important,” he said.
Ighali also revealed that the Federation will provide three additional jury members, aside from the Virtual Assistant Referees, to assist officials during the tournament.
“If a referee is in doubt, then he can have conversations with his assistants. That’s why they are three. And we have made provision for other juries as well to be part of the match. That’s also in addition to the Video replay.”
While addressing the coaches, Ighali also urged them to embrace the spirit of sportsmanship, even when results don’t go their way.
“Our referees are now better, there things that happened before that we don’t see any more. I understand the pressure on the referees but the coaches must understand that someone has to win. Some coaches only commend the referee when their athletes won. Once they lose, they’ll put the blame on the referees. There is nothing bad in accepting that some is better than your athletes, sometimes we have to accept defeat and commend our opponents.”
Ighali emphasized the importance of continuous improvement so that Nigerian referees can officiate matches at international competitions.
With wrestling events at the Festival set to begin on May 26, Ighali believes it is important to take proactive steps to elevate the standard of coaching and officiating across the country and meet international expectations.