A former Chairman of the Gombe Football Association, Alhaji Shauibu Gara Gombe has proposed prosecution for players and officials engaged in match fixing, sports betting as an important measure to fix quality of officiating in the domestic leagues.
Gara Gombe suggested that such players and officials, if guilty, should be jailed  without an option of fine.
“It’s so sad that players and officials at times know the result of matches even before they are played and this does it bring credibility to the domestic league,” said Gombe who is known for his firm stands on issues.
He asked the football authorities to declare a state of emergency on Refereeing in Nigeria during which Refereeing should be professionalised by an Act of Parliament like Engineering, Medical among others.
Gombe suggested a transition programme to be developed for automatic retirement of referees after five years of practice be implemented while a new programme for younger professional referees should be encouraged.
Corporate partners and sponsors, he said, should deal directly with the professional body of referees in Nigeria to allow for objectivity and undue interference.
“I made a statement and I still stand by it that an official of the home team lamented that during the outgoing season they paid match officials N3m to win their match at home but the away team paid N5m to win the game.
“Another instance was where a home team paid for hotel, air tickets of an away team just for the away team to accept to lose a match the way the home team wanted.”
Gombe lamented that the League were not interested in investigating the incidents. He said that he expressed his concerns to Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, who oversees the League but was ignored.
“It’s sad that players and officials at times know the outcome of matches even before they are played and this does not bring credible to the domestic league,”.
