By OKEY NDIRIBE
Chairman of the Referees Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Suleiman Muazu has dismissed allegations that Nigerian referees were the most corrupt officials in Nigerian football.
Muazu made the remark while speaking to sports journalists in Abuja during the FIFA physical test for referees and assistant referees held at the National Stadium, Abuja.
In response to a recent threat issued against cheating referees by the Minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji , he said: “ I don’t share the view that Nigerian referees are the most corrupt officials in Nigerian football. In the first place, bribery must involve a giver and a taker. The giver, just like the taker, is a criminal.”
Continuing, the NFF board member said, “sometimes, we hear that club managers follow referees to their various houses for the purpose of offering them bribes. If a referee does not accept what he is offered from such a club, he could be accused of having accepted money from the opponent’s club.”
He maintained that Nigerian referees were not more corrupt than other officials in Nigerian football adding that they could be said to be as corrupt as other officials were. Responding to another question on the FIFA test conducted for referees, he said all of those who came for the exercise had realized that” if they don’t perform well, they will dropped. “
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