President of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Misa Gusau, has disclosed that referees will be wearing communication gadgets while officiating matches in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) new season.
Gusau stated this while addressing journalists at the end of NPFL 2024/2025 season opener game between defending champion, Rangers International and Wikki Tourists of Bauchi on Saturday.
The match, which was played at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu, ended in a goalless draw.
He assured that there will be a lot of improvements in the league this season, saying that references will no longer go to the assistant referees to ask them questions.
The NFF president said the gadgets will provide platform for referees and their assistants to communicate without going close to themselves.
” From next week, you will see our referees stating to use communication gadgets. The referees will now communicate with themselves, they don’t need to go to AR to start asking them questions.
When asked if Video Assistant Reference (VAR) will be used during the season, he said they want to make sure that they have qualified and trained personnel that will manage it.
He, however, assured that they will start with training and retraining of personnel, pointing out that VAR is not easy to manage.
