The Nigeria Premier Football League has completed six matchdays of the 2026/27 season, with Enugu Rangers leading the early standings and Rivers United among the unbeaten sides, but the competition has also had to deal with concerns around match officials and their treatment during games, Footynaija.com reports.
Those concerns came into focus after Matchday 6, when Ranchers Bees were fined N5 million following their game against Rivers United. The club was sanctioned after players and bench officials intimidated and threatened match officials, while supporters also attempted to attack the officials and the match officials were held after the match.
The incident came as the NPFL prepared for Matchday 7, with the league publishing a fresh list of referees and assistants for the weekend fixtures on October 2.
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NFF orders monitors to every match centre
The Nigeria Football Federation has now moved to place refereeing decisions under closer observation after acknowledging that some calls during the opening six matchdays went beyond ordinary mistakes.
In a directive titled “Instructions and warnings to all NPFL Referees and Assistant Referees”, the NFF Refereeing Development Committee praised the officials for several good performances but also admitted that there had been wrong decisions.
“The 2026/2027 NPFL season has reached an advanced stage and we have witnessed several excellent performances from some of you while on duty,” the directive signed by Mohammed Ameenu stated.
“Equally, we have witnessed wrong calls, some of which are errors of judgment while others are gross misrepresentation of the content and context of the Laws of the Game 2026 as Amended.”
Voice of Nigeria reports that the NFF Acting General Secretary has consequently instructed the existing Monitoring Committee to deploy personnel to every match centre and monitor the actions and inactions of match officials.
The committee said the move is aimed at protecting the integrity of NPFL matches and ensuring referees apply the Laws of the Game fairly and consistently.
Referees and assistant referees have also been told to perform their duties “diligently, truthfully and fairly” and without fear or favour.
The NFF went further by warning that officials whose conduct brings the integrity of the competition into disrepute could be dismissed and handed over to security agencies for prosecution over alleged sabotage and match fixing.
