Crowd trouble and Referee assault last season in teh NPFL ( Archive )
Credit: Nation Daily Newspaper

Match Referees got the stick ; literally and figuratively, for decisions during games in the first stanza of the NPFL, but according to Niger Tornadoes Midfielder, Bolaji Adeyemo, their scorecards have been more positive than assumed.

Images of violence against Referees and other such ugly scenes have threatened to mar what little progress has been made from the previous seasons.

Even the Nigeria Referee Association Boss, Tade Azeez himself alluded to, ‘interpretation of the laws as the biggest slight’ to the level of officiating in the top flight, regardless, Referees have been a notch better than in the past.

Adeyemo agrees and added that visiting teams are more confident of getting away wins now than at any other time in the league.

However, there’s not been a truck load of those away wins to talk about in the first half of the 2016/17 season, a situation the Tornadoes Midfielder is positive will improve when the second stanza kicks off on 24 May.