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Why late referee Okubule was called ‘Show Boy’

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BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

One of the most famous football referees to have emerged from Nigeria, Festus Bolaji Okubule died on Tuesday evening.  He was aged 80.

He refereed two Challenge Cup final matches in 1977 when the then IICC Shooting Stars defeated the now defunct Raccah Rovers of Kano in the only final match ever played on a Sunday morning.

His other Challenge Cup final match was the 20 September 1981 duel of Enugu Rangers and Bendel Insurance. The former won 2-0.

As a referee, Okubule, a native of Odogbolu in Ogun State, was a powerful dresser. He was always neatly dressed and characteristically demonstrated fouls that made him reach out for his whistle.

But it was his neat dressing that got him the nickname of ‘Show Boy’. He attended every match with two sets of shirts as he always changed his attire at half-time.

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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