Five revelations made by chairman of referees association during encounter with parliamentary committee on sports

The chairman of the Referees Association of Ghana, George Saija, made their concerns known to the public when he faced the Parliamentary Select Committee on Sports on September 30, 2024.

He noted that the referees association not having a representative on the Ghana Football Association (GFA) Executive Committee (EXCO) is worrying because their grievances are not heard.

The referees committee chairman also disclosed that the GFA have taken referee appointment duties from them, which renders them useless in the management of football in Ghana.

Here are the five revelations the referees committee chairman made when he met the Parliamentary Select Committee on Sports:

1. Referees training: The team and I submitted a document to the GFA. We informed them about this particular internet training. We were told to hold on and wait. After the workout, we were told to wait until after the AFCON. After the AFCON, we kept pushing. To date, we have not been told that it will happen in October.

Our national technical instructor is also the technical instructor for the GFA. He is supposed to send the questions. He never sent them. As we sit, the examination was written, but results have not been released. Referees were called to be informed about their results at Prampram. They came and rewrote. As to whether they passed or failed, we don’t know.

2. GFA EXCO representation: We feel that if we have someone there and our issues are carried there, they will listen to them and give us feedback. The members of EXCO come from various groupings in football, so we also want to be represented there and share our issues to help resolve them swiftly.

3.Match officiating: Orders that come up after the match is over. I’ll say our mandate ends when we train these referees. Formerly, we were doing it, but for the past two seasons, the GFA has taken that, and that is now with them. They do the training and selection of the referees.

3.Salaries: The salary is a take-home of GH₵1,000 for Premier League referees. The Division One League and the referees in the Women’s League receive GH₵750, emphasizing that the amount includes all related expenses. The GH₵1,000 comprises their transportation, officiating, hotel, and food.

4.Match report: We are not furnished with match reports, and if we don’t get them, how can we correct the person? We hear in the news about referees being banned without our notice. That is not the right thing to be done. Not getting reports from the various league centers is a major problem

SB/EK