Namibia Football Association’s referee department head, Absalom Goseb, says there can never be too many match officials.
Speaking to Desert Radio recently, Goseb said the Namibia Referee Association (NRA) is looking for aspiring, young and mission-driven referees, especially women, to take on refereeing as a career.
He said out of the 666 referees on their books, 76 are women.
He urged women who want to take up refereeing as a career to reach out as there are programmes in place to groom and mould them into fully fledged referees.
The regions must contact the referee regional committees or approach the NFA for any assistance, he said.
Reflecting on the 2023 football season, Goseb said: “We are busy organising various referee courses throughout the country. We will kick off with training this month before the 2023/24 football season starts.”
Goseb said before the new season kicks off, the NRA has evaluated the performances of referees during the past football season, with the aim of promotions and demotions.
“I am excited about the conduct of the referees and I have indeed rated them highly.
“We have seen the Namibia Premier Football League (NPFL) taking place in the regions, including the women’s super league that ended without any disciplinary cases.
“We do not have any documented disciplinary cases pending, and that is evidence that they (referees) have done very well during the past football season,” he noted.
Goseb, who retired from active refereeing in 2000, emphasised that refereeing is a career and young people can make a living out of it.
He urged referees to maintain a sense of professionalism and integrity if they want to take their career to greater heights.
Six officials, four men and two women, have been invited to handle the upcoming CAF Champions League clash in Malawi and the Cosafa Women’s Champions League Qualifier in South Africa, respectively.
“Bribes will always be a challenge in this sport – even if a referee gets a million-dollar pay cheque,” said Goseb.
