The Nigeria Football Federation on Monday in Abuja said the second batch of referees for the two-week capacity building would leave Nigeria for the United Kingdom on January 25, 2014.
A statement from NFF’s Assistant Director (Communications), Ademola Olajire, said the second batch would be led by the Chairman of NFF’s Referees Committee, Ahmed Yusuf.
It said the delegation of 20 referees now makes it a total of 31 referees who are benefitting from the programme, after 11 referees were part of the first batch.
The statement said the delegation would also include the President of Nigeria Referees Association, Ahmed Maude.
The referees going for the capacity building exercise include Hadiza Musa, Bosede Momoh, Uloma Nwogu, Francis Agbaegbu, Ahmed Rufai, Paul Umuago, Jelili Ogunmuyiwa, Ibrahim Fagge and Jeremiah Akure.
The others are Iheanacho Chukwuemeka, Dele Atoun, Suleiman Jimeta, Abubakar Audu, Obieze Okiridu, Ezenwanko Obiora, Ishyaku Ibrahim, Sunny Atu, Sani Mohammed, Jibrin Isa and Mohammed Jingi.
The statement added that Arik Airline has offered to fly the 22 persons at half the fare to and fro the UK, while Seina Marine Limited is bankrolling the exercise.
It quoted the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Seina Marine, Scot Tommey, as saying they were delighted to be part of the NFA board’s well-articulated vision in building capacity.
Tommey was quoted as saying: “We are delighted to be a part of this because we believe in the well-articulated vision of Mr. Amaju Pinnick, the NFF Chairman, for Nigerian football.
“He is someone who knows exactly what it will take to make positive changes to the Nigerian game and we are interested in lending a helping hand.
“And, apart from the support we are giving to this exercise, we are also looking at other areas in which we can partner the NFA on football development.”
The statement further quoted Pinnick as saying the capacity building exercise was an ongoing exercise to have a pool of 60 referees.
“We want to have a pool of 60 referees who will be fully prepared and able to handle matches in Nigeria’s elite league and other domestic competitions without fear or favour,” it quoted Pinnick as saying.
The first batch of referees were in the UK early this month for the capacity building exercise.
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