The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has harped on its commitment to seeing Nigerian referees take their place at the top of international games.
Deputy General Secretary of the NFF, Emmanuel Ikpeme, made this remark at the FIFA Member Association Elite Referees Course held in Abuja.
Ikpeme, who represented the NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, at the event, was responding to the challenge of FIFA Referees Development Officer, Carlos Manuel Neves Henriques, on Nigerian referees.
Henriques had challenged Nigeria’s elite referees to start performing at the same level as the country’s national teams.
The Flying Eagles will play at the 2015 FIFA Under-20 World Cup finals in New Zealand, while the Falcons are also in Canada for the FIFA Women’s World Cup finals.
Henriques spoke on behalf of Lim Kee Chong from Mauritius, a former FIFA referee of high pedigree who served as technical instructor at the programme, and Mark Ephraim Nzengo from Malawi, who was the physical instructor.
He said: “We are convinced that Nigeria has the calibre of referees who can perform at the highest level as the Nigerian national teams, and with your energy, commitment and enthusiasm, I believe you will get to the top.”