Football

The President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau has stated that the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology will be introduced in the NPFL before the end of his tenure Sports Intelligence Magazine reports.

Gusau disclosed this while addressing football stakeholders during the NPFL Retreat which took place at the Sandralia Hotel in Abuja which is basically aimed at reviewing ways of improving the NPFL in the country. "Very soon we are going to start using VAR in Nigeria" Gusau started. "We are sending the first batch of referees for training to Morocco on how VAR is operated". 'Although we may have to start with minimal number, but we are making appeal to see how we can increase the numbers of referees who will be trained on the use of VAR" a confident Gusau stated. He further added that efforts will be made by the football federation to send referees to places where they will stay for about two to three weeks and have practical experience of the use of the VAR also, so that they can merge what they have learnt with practical experience. "The Moroccan football authority are willing to support us' he continued. "All we have to do is to fly our referees there so they can have a field experience on the usage of VAR after their training" he assured. "I can assure you all Insha Allah, that before the end of my tenure in 2026, VAR will be introduced into the NPFL" the NFF boss concluded. There has been calls by stakeholders in Nigeria football on the level of officiating in the NPFL, the Retreat organized by the NPFL is one of such organized to look into critical issues such as that affecting football development in the country.