Continental J.

Arts and Humanities 8 (1): 1 - 7, 2016

Wilolud Journals, 2016
Printed in Nigeria

ISSN: 2141 - 4092

http://www.wiloludjournal.com
doi:10.5707/cjah.2016.8.1.1.7

REVIEW PAPER
THE RELEVANCE OF FRENCH LANGUAGE TO THE NIGERIAN FIFA GRADED
REFEREES IN THEIR INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS
Agbagbatu Samuel Oghenekaro
Directorate of General Studies, Delta State Polytechnic, Ozoro. Dealta State
ABSTRACT
Football officiating world-wide has brought sanity to the beautiful game. The
Nigerian FIFA graded referee overall performance seem to be at its best at the
country level where there is no language barrier. When they step out of their
countries for continental and international assignments, they are faced with a
number of challenges. One of such pressing problems is the problem of
language. Nigeria being an Anglophone country and because of its earlier
policies on education makes a large part of the educated population including
our present FIFA graded referees to be in control of just one international
language English language. This paper presents the challenges of language and
communication to Nigerian FIFA referees as they pursue their international
hobby. The paper seeks also to proffer solutions to the dire need of the Nigerian
FIFA graded referee to acquire French language to complement the already
acquired English language to give them a smooth ride in their international
duties.
KEYWORDS: Challenges, communication, language, FIFA graded Referees,
officiating.
Received for Publication: 11/04/16
Corresponding Author: Samgbatu@gmail.com

Accepted for Publication: 16/06/16

INTRODUCTION
Football or association soccer is perhaps regarded the king of sports. Many also refer to it as the
beautiful game because of its rules flexibility, dynamism, simplicity and even its followership.
Football however does not go without controversies. That is why the referees go a long way to
bring harmony to the game by getting conversant with the laws of the game and interpreting and
applying them accurately at any given situation in a match. The referees task of controlling the
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Agbagbatu Samuel Oghenekaro: Continental J. Arts and Humanities 8 (1): 1 - 7, 2016

game of football depends largely on language which is very vital in administration of any sport.
Nigerian FIFA graded referees officiating at the domestic leagues have no problems with French
language but it becomes a huge problem when matches are played between two francophone
countries or between an Anglophone country and a Francophone country in a francophone
environment with a Nigerian FIFA graded referee as a match official he is bound to face
communication problems.
Aim and objectives
1. To highlight the problem of language and communication as it affects Nigerian FIFA
graded referees on international assignment.
2. To show why the referees should learn French Language to boost their advantage to soar
high in their international engagement.
3. To proffer solution to the issue of language confronting Nigerian FIFA graded referees.
Who is a football referee?
A referee, according to the Longmans Dictionary of Contemporary English New Edition, is
someone who is in charge of a game in sports such as football, basketball etc. Hornby (2006) states
that a referee is an umpire or judge; the official who makes sure the rules are followed during a
game.
But in the football referees circle, a football referee is someone having some level of education,
trained with the laws of the game, budged, tested to be physically fit and appointed to officiate in
a match. Tested to be physically fit is built on a number of items, clarity of vision, mental fitness,
certified fit in an examination by an electrocardiogram (ECG), blood tests etc. and also having
completed the referees systematically programmed fitness test race of twelve (12) laps in a track
of 400m in about 28minutes. The qualification to join referee is secondary school certificate and
football referee is a hobby and not a profession. You are recruited into a referee as RIT (Referee
in Training) not older than (18-22) years of age. Promotion examinations are written from one
grade to the other after having stayed at least 2 years in that grade. The grades are as follow in
ascending order GR III, GR II, GR I. At grade one FIFA selects referees from every country
through their Confederation and through excellent performances at their countries apex leagues.
Such referees should have satisfied FIFA requirements of being budged as a FIFA graded referees
who officiate in international matches.
Football Officiating and its Administration
Football they say originated some 8 centuries ago. According to NRA (2003:20) modern football
with designed rules owe its origin to England on October 26, 1863 at the Tavern where Football
Association (FA) was formed. The game has undergone several modifications to bring it to the
level it is now. Football is played and enjoyed internationally and locally for entertainment. In fact
football is a very great source of wealth to those who are talented in it. It is a huge source of
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Agbagbatu Samuel Oghenekaro: Continental J. Arts and Humanities 8 (1): 1 - 7, 2016

economic income to several organizations, sponsors, fans, media, football agents, sports outfits,
betting and pool houses, financial houses, medical personnel, coaches, lawyers, architects and
numerous other groups and individuals that share in the financial proceeds from football worldwide.
The governing body of football world-wide is la Federation International de Football Association
(FIFA). It was founded May 21st 1904. FIFA has about 206 Associations registered under her
spread across the six confederations of the six continents. Each confederation has its member
countries that run the administration of the game in that country. The confederations are as follow:
Africa
Confederation of African Football (CAF)
Europe
Union of European Football Association (UEFA)
Asia
Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
Oceania
Oceania Football Association (OFA)
South America Confederation Sudamericana de Futbal (CONMEBOL)
North America Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association
Football (CONCACAF)
Football has 17 laws contained in a book called the laws of the game published by FIFA. The
body charged with the duty of the modification and amendment to the laws is called the
International Football Association Board (IFAB). Every year modifications and amendments to
the laws of the game are published and take effect from the 1st of June.
Seminars are organized yearly to train and orientate the referees on such amendments and
modifications by the training wing of the Referees Grading and Assessment Committee. With this
training, referees are abreast with new changes brought to the game at regular intervals. Referees
armed with the baggage of the laws of the game as a tool kit carry out the huge, volatile and
dangerous task of officiating in the game of football.
Referees who have risen to the rank of Grade I in Nigeria are appointed to officiate in the Nigeria
Nationwide League upon their graduation to Grade I Others who have been in this level earlier on
may be promoted to the Nigeria National League based on excellent performance. From thence,
referees who have performed outstandingly well are also promoted to the elite league, the Nigerian
Premier League (NPL). However, no matter the level of performance, a referee must remain in
each league for at least 2 years before gaining promotion. He must be dully assessed by match
commissioners and match assessors in each match. Upon gaining promotion to the NPL, referees
who aspire to be FIFA graded must not be more than 25-28 years as FIFAs retirement age for
referees is 45 years. This will give room to the referee to stay longer in the FIFA graded cadre for
a long time for the sake of consistency.

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Agbagbatu Samuel Oghenekaro: Continental J. Arts and Humanities 8 (1): 1 - 7, 2016

Nigerian FIFA graded referees officiate in continental competitions organized by CAF under the
auspices of FIFA e.g. the CAF Champions League, the CAF Confederation Cup, African Cup of
Nations (AFCON), Cup of Home-based African Nations (CHAN), African Youth Championship
(AYC), U-17, U-20 (male and female categories). They also officiate during these competitions
qualifiers or elimination series.
At the West African sub - region, they officiate in the West African Football Union (WAFU) Cup
both at the club level and at the national teams level.
Challenges/problems facing the Nigerian FIFA graded Referees.
Nigerian FIFA graded referees face a lot of difficulties when they step out of the shores of the
country for international assignments. One of these problems as highlighted by this paper is the
problem of language. The primary function of language is for communication. According to Kure
(2004:216) communication refers to the transfer of ideas or knowledge in ways that enables the
recipients to understand, react to and act upon the information received. While officiating,
referees communicate a lot both verbally and non-verbally including (body language) to
players and the referees team mates. (As players have their team mates, so referees have their
team mates) they are: the referee, the assistant referee I, assistant referee II, the reserve assistant
referee or the fourth official and the match commissioner who are appointed for a match. FIFA
(2014:59) confirms that FIFA has recently included 2 additional assistant referees.
There is what is called the referees cooperation in football officiating in which referees
communicate by comparing time, records and agree on decisions. Referees communicate before,
during and after a match. According to Omineokuma-kile (2014:5) communication is the tool for
effective team work. Here we are concerned with verbal communication. The vital question is
what language should the referees use while communicating? Because of language diversities in
the association, (as membership cuts across the globe), FIFA recognized 4 (four) official
languages French, English, German and, Spanish. The referees are drawn from countries in
Africa whose official language(s) may be French or English. In Africa, majority of the countries
are Francophone. Also in West Africa we have more francophone countries than Anglophone
countries while Portuguese and Spanish countries in Africa are in the absolute minority.
According to NRA (2014:33), Nigeria currently has 28 referees in the 2014/2015 FIFA listing.
They are: referees male (6) female (3), assistant referees male (7) female (4) FUTSAL (five aside
football) referees (4) beach soccer referees (4). Out of this number only one has been featuring in
FIFA organized tournaments regularly. This referee Mr. Peter Edibe was in Germany 2006,
South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014 World Cups. He was in South Africa 2013 and was
also in Equatorial Guinea 2015.

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Agbagbatu Samuel Oghenekaro: Continental J. Arts and Humanities 8 (1): 1 - 7, 2016

Why French language for Nigeria FIFA graded referees

During FIFA and CAF organised competitions, the Nigerian FIFA graded referee is appointed
alongside three other referees most of whom are likely to be from the francophone countries, if
not all three of them. The Nigeria FIFA referees understand and speak only English. The referees
from the French speaking countries cannot speak English. With our own in the minority he is
bound to suffer. This makes communication difficult during referees pre-match proceedings
where referees agree on colours of jerseys to be used; discussing secret codes or signals to be
used and even greetings during first time contact with other referees from non-Anglophone
countries, receptionists, taxi drivers etc.
Again, according to FIFA (2014:39), players using offensive, insulting or abusive language and
or gestures at opponents, team mates, match officials, coaches, spectators or anybody must be
sent off and shown the red card. A Nigerian FIFA referee for instance officiating in group B
match comprising Cote dIvoire, Cameroon, Mali and Guinea in Equatorial Guinea 2015 may
probably not send off any player even when he heard the statements like vous tes sourd-muet,
tu es un bouc meaning you are a deaf and dumb and you are a he-goat respectively from
both team mates or two opponents caught in a tirade of insults or abuses in French language. This
sadly brings the beautiful game to disrepute. Lack of understanding of French language will make
such player(s) go scot free without receiving the appropriate sanctions as stipulated by the football
regulatory body. Sometimes it may degenerate to violent confrontations like the case Zidane of
France and Mattarazzi of Italy during the 2006 World Cup in Germany in which the later insulted
the formers sister that she is a whore, this is a huge problem in the game. Although Zinadine
Zidane was sent off for retaliating by physically attacking Mattarazzi, Mattarazzi was only shown
a yellow card, a punishment that was not in any way commensurate with the offence he committed
in a World Cup Finals watched by hundreds of millions of people all around the world.
According to Madueke (2007:2) the acquisition of and ability to use language is one of the most
impressive process of learning that an individual achieves during the course of his life time. If
our FIFA graded referees learn French language they will not be involved in such a far below
average performance. They will be able to mix freely with their francophone counterparts thereby
moving their game to the next level in that manner contributing to the development of the game.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the study has stated who a football referee is, and how Nigeria FIFA referees are
faced with the problem and challenges of language and communication while carrying out their
international assignments. It is discovered that such problem can mar the game and can also bring
it to disrepute. Nigerian FIFA graded referees should raise their game to the standard of their
counterparts in Europe and elsewhere to meet up with the challenges confronting them in the area
of communication to avoid being mediocre and being marginalized or left out during the course
of appointment of referees in FIFA organized competitions. It is therefore an advice for the

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Agbagbatu Samuel Oghenekaro: Continental J. Arts and Humanities 8 (1): 1 - 7, 2016

Nigerian FIFA graded referees to arm themselves with an additional international language to be
fortified against the challenges of communication emanating from football refereeing.
RECOMMENDATIONS
(i) Nigerian FIFA graded referees should as a matter of urgency and priority engage the services
of a French language teacher to teach them the language or better still they should enrol for
French classes at various Alliance Franaise Centres spread all over the country.
(ii) From time to time, they should create an avenue to visit French speaking countries to know
more about exchange rates and currency conversion, metro (train) use, how to check in and out
of hotels and familiarize with first-contact language in the francophone countries as a part of
language immersion.
(iii) The Nigerian Referees Association (NRA) should on her part make it as one of the
compulsory requirements for her FIFA referees to be French literate and of course they can
actually learn and speak French effectively in six months through intensive French studies. It
should as a matter of policy begin as early as at the RIT stage or at the point of recruitment of
referees and not a law to be enforced when referees have risen to the FIFA graded referees status.
REFERENCES
FIFA (2013). Laws of the Game 2013/2014 Zurich: FIFA.
FIFA (2014). Laws of the Game 2014/2015 Zurich: FIFA.
FIFA (2015). Laws of the Game 2015/2016 Zurich: FIFA.
Hornby A.S. (2006). Oxford Advance English Learners Dictionary Cambridge, Cambridge Press.
Kure, A. (2004). Use of English and Communication. Zaria Dunads Communication.
Longman (1995) Dictionary of Contemporary English New Edition. Essex: Pearson Education
Limited.
Madueke, A. (2007). Principles and Practice of Teaching English as a Second Language. Lagos:
Vitaman Educational Books.
NRA (2014). The Nigeria Football Referees Magazine, Port Harcourt: Saintobiz Plus Ltd.
NRA (2003). The Nigeria Football Referees Magazine, vol. 5 no 5 Lagos, Dakota & Associate.

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Agbagbatu Samuel Oghenekaro: Continental J. Arts and Humanities 8 (1): 1 - 7, 2016

Omineokuma-kile, H. (2014). Communication: the Tool for Effective Team Work: Nigeria
Football Referee Magazine. Port Harcourt: Saintobiz Plus Ltd.

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