The chairman of the Referees Association of the Upper East Region,
Dawood Ouedraogo has commended members of the association for their sterling
performance for the year 2012. The region can confidently boast of six referees
officiating in the Glo Ghana Premier League with many more also officiating in
the FA Cup and the National Division One League.
Ouedraogo said this in an interview with Gbc Ura Radio Sports in
Bolgatanga after their annual get-together in the Upper East Regional capital.
“I must say I’m very proud of my colleague referees in this region
for their excellent performances for the past year both on and off the field. Our
region came first in the fitness test which took place late last year and I am
very proud of that because if out of ten regions, we were first, I want to
believe it’s a very good thing for us and the strength of refereeing is on the
high pedestal,” Mr. Ouedraogo said.
He noted: “Looking at our performance in the Premier League, none of
our referees was invited to the referees’ review panel for interrogation on
their performance but rather most of them were recommended for promotion.”
Ouedraogo who is the only FIFA referee in the region and a tutor
at Bolgatanga Senior High School however cautioned his fellow referees to
eschew the habit of frowning on the ethics of the profession, thereby chasing
after bribes to favour one particular team during officiating.
“Morality is very important in our profession and I will only
advice my fellow referees to be morally upright whenever they are officiating
matches by avoiding taking bribes and allow the team that played well to win
the match,” he warned amid stressing that the association will only promote
people based on their performance and commitment to the game.
As part of their annual get-together, a football match was played
between the Bolgatanga referees and their counterparts from Navrongo at the
Bolgatanga Sports Stadium. The match ended in a 2-1 win for the Bolgatanga
branch referees.