Rwanda Football Federation (Ferwafa) is examining ways of implementing stringent measures against referees who make serious mistakes in football matches that negatively impact games. There have been calls from football fans, especially on social media about a series of poor decisions in the league that have cost some teams. “We are doing all we can to raise the level of referees in the country. It is not a quick fix but many of the officials have been trained both within the country and abroad by experts,” Michel Gasingwa, the head of the Referees commission said. Gasingwa adds that although the number of complaints about poor officiating in matches has increased this season, it is not necessarily because there weren’t there previously. “I think football fans have become more vocal this season and have taken to social media to criticize the poor decisions by referees. This is not something we take lightly and we are examining ways of punishing the culprits,” Gasingwa noted. Five referees have so far been suspended this season. In 2016, CAF donated sets of Wireless Audio Communication System which were meant to contribute to enhancing referees’ decisions, boost performance and strengthen communication so as to build capacities, team work as well as enhance consistency in decision-making. Each set consists of a configuration with six terminals, two chargers, six headsets plus push-to-talk, five armbands, two belts and one carrying bag. The National Football league was suspended on March 15 to limit the spread of the coronavirus. By press time on Thursday, there were 41 confirmed positive cases of COVID 19. It is not just football that was suspended in the country, all sporting activities in the country were suspended. The trend has been the same across the globe.
