Following Rannie's Appointment: Referees' Fitness Questioned
May 20, 2004
Monrovia
Referees of the Liberia Football Association (LFRA) may
have been thinking that they were in top form and could be described
as fit, but signals from the committee set up to test the whistle
bearers are seemingly shocking, even to the referees themselves.
The referee association received shocking news from the
Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Liberia Football
Association, Daniel Forkpah, that the football house had rejected
the "Cooper Test".
On the 2nd May, result of the referees' physical
fitness test was presented to the LFA in the hope that the
executives of football house would have accepted the result, but
things turned otherwise.
Much to the amazement of the referees, Mr. Forkpah informed
the over twenty potential football judges (referees) including those
of them who are students, and others at the county and the national
levels, and the FIFA badge referees that the test results had been
rejected.
The disclosure was made during one of the referees' regular Sunday
Morning practice sessions usually held the Antoinette Tubman Stadium
(ATS).
According Mr. Forkpah, the test results were rejected
on ground that they were very discouraging and did not reflect the
expectations of the LFA, and that as such it was needful that the
referees took more physical fitness tests to improve their physical
ability that is indispensable during matches.
The statement from the referees' representative was
resented and received with sharp criticisms by member of the
"Sound-of-the-whistle" (referees), who described their Chairman's
statement as a ploy to get at some potential referees who they
perceived as "enemy of the association".
"The executives of LFA can not tell us that they
rejected the result of the test we took on February 8th -about two
month ago - when we were first told by the Chairman on the referees'
standing committee at the LFA that the results were satisfactory,"
the referees argued.
Daniel Forkpah who administered the test had spoken well of
the referees and said that all they did well in the "Cooper Test".
The issue of more "Cooper Test" coincided with the
coming in of referee Sylvester Rannie, the international assistant
referee who was recently promoted as deputy chief referee.
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