A former chairman of the Gombe Football Association, Ahmed Shuaibu Gara-Gombe, has called for more stringent measures to tackle the menace of poor officiating in our domestic leagues. 

Gara-Gombe, who has been in the forefront of clean sport in the country, stressed the need to punish match officials and players involved in sports betting without an option of a fine as one of the ways to address the corruption ravaging officiating in our football. 

He noted that compromised officiating has reduced the quality of football in the domestic leagues and also accounts for why Nigerian referees are neglected by CAF at continental championships. 

Gara-Gombe noted, “It’s so sad that players and officials at times know the result of matches even before they are played, and this does not bring credibility to the domestic league.”

The former Gombe FA chairman further stressed that there was a need to declare a state of emergency for refereeing in Nigeria, and during this period, refereeing should be professionalized by an act of parliament like engineering, medicine, and others.

He further added that a transition program be developed so that there would be automatic retirement after five years of practice, while a new orientation program for younger professional referees should be put in place.

Gara-Gombe, popularly called ,The Controversial One, because of his outspokenness, recommended that corporate partners and sponsors who shall be responsible for refereeing be engaged and should deal directly with the professional body of referees in Nigeria to allow for objectivity and avoid undue interference.

He also questioned the quality of the league, where he alleged betting is the order of the day and winners of such leagues are kicked out of interclub competitions on the continent at the very preliminary rounds.