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MBABANE – Eswatini Football Association (EFA) has called upon local referees to behave in a positive manner on or off field to lure sponsors.

EFA Marketing and Communications Manager Muzi Radebe said referees were a football brand and product, saying their actions and behaviour always marketed football either in a positive or negative manner.

Radebe further called referees for a self-introspection exercise so to discover if they were saleable or not.

Scrutiny

Radebe said referees were under constant scrutiny by football fans. He said sponsors and fans, which he claimed were the main financers of local football, could be attracted or repelled from the sport by a referee’s bad conduct.

He said this while delivering his presentation during a two-day referees’ symposium held at Caritas in Manzini over the past weekend.

This symposium was aimed at enhancing referees ahead of the upcoming local football season which is said to begin next month.

The EFA marketing and communications manager felt that referees were making a positive input for football sponsorship as through a positive image; sponsors could be attracted in branding local referees at individual level or as a whole.

Sponsors

He also added that high management of games could retain sponsors while also making the sport appealing to other sponsors.

Radebe mantained that sometimes referees could scare fans off and sponsors through poor game management and officiating. He stressed that they should uphold the highest referees ethical standards. He also advised referees not to be judgmental during games, highlighting the need to respond in an appropriate and professional manner, while also avoiding inciting violence in games.