By Francis H. Murray
Seven Sierra Leonean referees have been given badges of accreditation by football’s world governing body, FIFA. The badges were presented to the seven men in Freetown at a ceremony by the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA).
The accreditation process is an annual process that involves reviewing the performance and capacity of referees globally. Six of the seven men were accredited last year.
The seven include three center referees and four assistant referees; Dawudu Williams, Raymond Coker, Shuib Bangura. Franklyn Marrah, Micheal Conteh, Musa Sandy and Ibrahim Bah made the cut as assistant referees.
The Referees’ Manager in Sierra Leone, Mohamed Gwen Freeman, said the process was fair and credible. He said all they did was recommend and FIFA had the final say based on rigorous test processes to certify referees.
‘’Our duty as an FA is to nominate and pass it to the General Secretary from the referees committee, who signs it and passes it to FIFA for approval. It is FIFA who approves and not the SLFA,’’ Freeman said.
Explaining the criteria, Freeman said: “For a referee to be nominated, you should be medically and physically fit. (You) must have officiated the Sierra Leone premier league for at least a year and pass at least one of the internal fitness tests set up by the FA and another MA course by FIFA.”
All seven referees could now be called upon by FIFA to officiate in FIFA accredited fixtures in the world untill the end of the year.
The Vice Chairman of the referees committee, Dr. Patrick Moana, urged the newly accredited refs to do their job with professionalism, fairness and ethics.
‘’The principles upon which the refereeing career are built on are fairness, professionalism, and ethical considerations, and your decisions must be best of the field,’’ Moana stated.
Secretary General of the FA, Christopher Kamara, praised the performance of Sierra Leonean referees last year. Last year Sierra Leonean referees officiated a total of seven FIFA accredited fixtures on the continent.
He said with such progress, the referees could not be far away from officiating in major tournaments.
“With this type of progress, we are sure as a nation to see our referees officiating in the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations and the World Cup qualifying matches,” Kamara said.
Musa Allieu Sandy, one of the seven referees, said that he was determined to attain the highest heights in his career.
Swahib Bangura, another referee, said that getting the badge was a challenge that involved hard work. He said he was dedicated to doing his job right.
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