President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Musa Gusau, said the Video Assistant Referees (VAR) will be introduced into the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) before the end of his tenure in 2026.
Gusau stated this at the maiden retreat for board members of the NPFL which was held on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said the NFF will leave no stone unturned to see that Nigeria referees benefit from the VAR training which will be organised by the West Africa Football Union (WAFU) in January 2024.
According to Gusau, the NFF will work with Morocco and Egypt Football Federations to see that Nigerian referees get the best training as far as VAR is concerned. He stated that NFF is ready to sponsor at least 10 referees for the January training.
“Video Assistant Referees (VAR) are being managed by the referees. For now, NPFL doesn’t have the VAR materials for now. I think the only thing if we get to that level is for them to support us in trying to get the equipment. But very soon, we are going to see how we’ll start to use VAR in Nigeria.
“I think by January, we are going to send the first set of referees that are going to go for VAR training. The West Africa Football Union (WAFU) are trying to organise this kind of training but at our own level, I tried to let them see how we can increase the number of those that are going to participate in the training so that we can have a minimum of 10 referees (from Nigeria) that will go there. They are requesting for about four but I said I’ll make it to be 10 even if we are going to take care of the six.
“Once we do that with WAFU, then we’ll see how we can organise that training. I have a relationship with the Morocco and the Egypt FAs who happen to have the best use of the VAR equipment as far as Africa is concerned.
“Once they undergo that training with WAFU, we’ll try to find time to send them also to these places to see how they can learn more on VAR on the pitch. They can stay there for two or three weeks and the Morocco FA will help us in this direction. But I want to assure you that in no distant future, we’ll try and see how we can start using VAR.
“Also, FIFA is trying to do more in the area of that technology. Now it’s becoming very difficult because the current VAR being used is very expensive because it uses about 12 or 14 cameras. It is becoming more difficult for most countries to get it. They are trying to get a smaller version with a few cameras that will be affordable so we’ll start from there.
“By the grace of God, we’ll try and see how we can collaborate with FIFA. And I assure you that before my tenure ends in 2026, we’ll start using VAR in Nigeria, Insha Allah,” Gusau stated.
READ ALSO FROM SPORTING TRIBUNE