Speech deliverded by H.E.DR. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe at the just ended confederation of African football (CAF) annual meeting on ethic and fair play, held at the ‘6th october city, CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, 29 august - 5 september, 2006
At a time when African football has earned both recognition and respect, our meeting here cannot fail to discuss the vexed issue of refereeing.
Indeed, after a World Cup well remembered for refereeing standards as any other highlight of the tournament, it must be a matter of priority to us to fashion means of achieving a good standard in this area of the game, at least to serve as worthy example onto the rest of the world.
While we take pride in the performance of our four referees at the world cup, it must also be an issue of concern to us that only this number out of the total 26 came from Africa.
But while Europe, Asia and the Americans shared the rest of the 22 other places for referees, it was from that number that the controversies of refereeing surrounded.
Without reveling in the flaws of our counterparts from elsewhere, we must be grateful to fate that it wasn’t an African referee who showed three yellow cards to one player in the same match; that it wasn’t an African referee who broke the record with the highest number of cautions in one match; and that it wasn’t an African referee who broke the record of the highest number of red cards in one match --- all three cases attracting severe criticisms from FIFA President Sepp Blatter. Perhaps, the events of the World Cup can only form some basis for advocacy for fair representation of referees from the various confederations at such global tournaments. Yet, we cannot overlook the factors that qualify referees to officiate at the biggest stage.
Competence evidenced in the alertness of the various senses and proper interpretation of the rules of the game, pure fitness and the heart for the big stage are areas we have to attach utmost importance to in our search for higher standards. By upholding these standards at the continental level, we can be assured of an improvement in, at least, one department of football in Africa, with an ultimate effect on the global game.
With Africa taking centre stage in 2010 when South Africa hosts the World Cup, we can ill afford to churn out mediocre performances in particularly referring, the one area that has enormous influence on the success or otherwise of a game.
In this regard, we have to apply strict rules on referees and refereeing, giving no room for possible dishonest elements, taking the unfortunate scandal that has rocked Italian football recently as a cue. This is how we can uphold standards and improve our game.
