The outstanding performance of referee Joseph Ogabor during the Lobi Stars –Rangers match in Makurdi has attracted the attention of Sir Emmanuel Udo alias Bullet, Team Manager of Akwa United FC. Who will appreciate this to be replicated in Jos and other centres this week end.
Sir Udoh yesterday in Uyo told the media that immediately after their match in Enugu his chairman went into the referees’ dressing room and commended the officials for a job well done.
“In our last match in Enugu, immediately Colonel Fawole blew his final whistle, my Chairman Paul Bassey went into the referees dressing room and told colonel Fawole and his assistants, the Match Commissioner and the Referees Assessor that he was proud of them and wished other referees could perform the way they did. Mr Bassey did this despite the fact that we lost the match.
“I believe I should talk about this today after reading the encomiums that have been poured on referee Joseph Ogabor for his good handling of the Lobi Stars match against Rangers International. Teams that are beaten in the league should go home satisfied that they lost squarely on the field of play and not because of board decisions and the manipulation of suspect match officials who unfortunately are still available in the league.
“During the post match conference in Uyo, Coach Ogunbote of Enyimba told the media that his team conceded the lone goal due to lack of concentration while Chief Anyansi pumped my Chairman’s hand for a “deserved victory”.
That is the type of league we want to see and we pray that as we face Plateau United this week end the referees that will be given the task of handling this “ match of the week” will live up to expectations and if they do, despite the bad state of the Jos stadium, we can expect to come back to Uyo victorious” He said.

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