Referees Association want representation on GFA Executive Council

MEMBERS of the Referees Association of Ghana (RAG) have expressed disappointment in the 2019 Statute of the Ghana Football Association that denied them representation on the Executive Council (ExCo) of the football governing body.

When they took their turn at the Youth and Sports Committee of Parliament last week, the chairman of the Association, George Saijah, was unhappy though they played a crucial part in the game, they were denied representation on the decision-making body.

He said because they were denied a voice on the GFA ExCo, there was nobody to speak for them which he lamented had adversely affected the ability to properly critique and reshape into improving on past mistakes. 

“If there are people on the committee who are not referees, how will they know how to reshape referees back to the games when they go wrong?” he asked.

The RAG Chairman also disclosed how they are often left out when the national teams have to participate in international tournaments and recalled how they had to beg the Ministry of Youth and Sport for tickets to allow one of their instructors to travel to Cote d'Ivoire for the Africa Cup of Nations.

“When teams from Ghana go for tournaments, we have our colleagues who are referees who always call to ask why are we not here.  

“Remember us every time Ghana qualifies and we will also be happy to have two or three people there to represent us since we get certain materials and come back,” he remarked.

He called on the Legislature to consider a stakeholder meeting to review and take stock of the previous football season’s activities as one of the ways of addressing the various challenges confronting the game in the country.

Asked if the association were furnished with reports on matches that were played, Mr Saijah responded that they previously received reports until 2018 but added that when the GFA Normalisation Committee came into effect, it restored that on a weekly basis.

Such a move, he said, prevented the association from learning firsthand some of the lapses that occurred and how to correct their members.

“If we do not get such reports, how can we retrain our members; sometimes we hear in the news a referee has been banned but that is not the right thing because if the person is banned, who trains the person back into the game?

“We believe we must get every report so that we call our members and put them right,” he added.