Soname: Why CAF Snubbed Nigerian Referees in the Last 17 Years

Duro Ikhazuagbe

A major stakeholder in Nigeria’s domestic football, Billionaire businessman, Kunle Soname, has insisted that the almost 17 years snubbing of the countries football referees by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is not likely to abate now unless there is a drastic move to halt the systemic failure working against quality officiating in the leagues here.

No Nigerian referee is amongst the 73 highly experienced officials comprising 28 referees, 31 assistant referees, and 14 VAR officials handling affairs at the ongoing 2025 AFCON in Morocco.

Speaking yesterday in Ikenne, Soname who is the financier of Remo Stars, the defending champions of the Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL), insisted that Nigerian referees are suffering from what he calls “deep-rooted crisis in match officiating in the country.”

According to Soname, poor officiating—often appearing “fraudulent or grossly incompetent”—has systematically eroded the credibility required for Nigerian referees to earn international appointments.

The Remo Stars financier stressed that the problem goes beyond isolated mistakes and represents a dangerous pattern threatening the integrity of the Nigeria Premier Football League unless something is done fast to reverse the scourge.

Soname insisted that he was speaking not merely as a club owner but as a major stakeholder concerned about the future and integrity of club football in the country.

He backed up his claims with video evidences of at least five recent incidents that underline the severity of the problem in the Nigerian topflight.

Amongst some of the videos, he cited two clear penalties denied to Remo Stars in a single match: a blatant foul ignored against his team that directly resulted in an opposition goal, and a wrongly disallowed legitimate goal scored by Rangers International against Rivers United.

Soname also displayed another video of how a foul against a Shooting Stars defender before an attacking player of Barau FC went on to score a goal.

“These are not 50–50 calls,” Soname Insisted. “They are blatant errors captured on video—decisions that directly change match outcomes and contradict all available evidence.”

He revealed that he had sent the video clips to the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) and that the chairperson of the Referee Appointment Committee, Faith Irabor, is aware of these issues that he raised at the media session.

The club owner revealed that he sent the video clips to match officials in Europe to analyze and that the conclusion was that the referees in question all erred.

Soname therefore placed the responsibility for oversight on the Referees’ Appointment Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation, accusing the body of enabling the crisis to fester by failing to sanction poor performances and by offering implausible justifications for obvious errors.

He called on the NFF, NPFL management and the Referees’ Committee to urgently review the cited incidents, enforce accountability and rebuild confidence in the league. More critically, he insisted that the Referees’ Appointment Committee must be comprehensively restructured.

“Football thrives on fairness,” Soname said. “Our players deserve fairness, our fans deserve honesty, and our league deserves integrity. Nigerian football deserves better.”