Official / Referee Guide 🟡

As an Official on LigiOpen, you’re a registered referee or assistant referee. League Admins assign you to matches, you can accept or reject those assignments, set your availability, and on match day, record events for the fixtures you’re officiating.

What is the Official Role?

Officials are the match day referees and assistant referees who make it all happen on the pitch. On LigiOpen, your profile stores your certification, your availability, your assignment history, and your preferences — so League Admins can find the right official for each match.

💡 The dedicated Official section of the app is coming soon. Some features described here are currently accessed through your Profile tab. A dedicated Officials tab with a full dashboard is planned for an upcoming release.

How Do I Get the Official Role?

You don’t create your official profile yourself. Here’s how it works:

1. A Super Admin creates your official profile on LigiOpen — entering your name, email, phone, county, certification level, and primary role (Center Referee, AR1, AR2, or Fourth Official).
2. Once your profile is created, your LigiOpen user account (if you have one) is linked to it.
3. The Official role is added to your account.

✅ If you don’t have a LigiOpen account yet: Download the app, register with the same email the Super Admin used for your profile, and your account will link automatically.

Your Official Profile

Your profile contains the following information, set up by the Super Admin:

This profile is visible to League Admins when they’re browsing officials to assign to fixtures.

Receiving Assignment Notifications

When a League Admin assigns you to a match, you’ll receive a notification on your phone.

To view your assignments:

1. Open LigiOpen.
2. Go to your Profile tab.
3. Look for the Assignments section. (A dedicated Official tab is coming soon — this will become much easier.)

Each assignment shows:

• Home team vs Away team
• Date and time
• Venue
• Your role in this match (e.g. Center Referee)
• Current status (Pending / Accepted / Rejected)

Accepting an Assignment

When you’re available and happy to take the match:

1. Open the assignment.
2. Tap Accept.
3. The League Admin sees your confirmation. The match is now confirmed for you. ✅

Rejecting an Assignment

If you can’t make it:

1. Open the assignment.
2. Tap Reject.
3. Enter a reason (e.g. “Travelling that weekend”, “Already assigned to another match”, “Family commitment”).
4. Tap Confirm.

The League Admin receives a notification and can assign a different official to the match.

💡 Reject as early as possible so the League Admin has time to find a replacement. Don’t leave it to the last minute.

Setting Your Availability

You can mark yourself as unavailable for a period of time — useful when you’re injured, travelling, or otherwise unable to officiate.

1. Go to your Profile tab.
2. Tap Official Profile.
3. Tap the Availability section.
4. Toggle to Unavailable.
5. Add a note explaining why (e.g. “Knee injury — out until 15 May 2025”, “Annual leave 1–15 August”).

This is advisory — League Admins can see your availability status when browsing officials. They’ll typically avoid assigning you during periods you’ve marked as unavailable.

💡 Remember to toggle back to Available once the period is over. Otherwise, League Admins may continue to skip you for assignments.

Adding Constraints and Preferences

You can tell LigiOpen about specific preferences or limitations:

• “I prefer Nyayo National Stadium”
• “Avoid Moi Sports Centre (transport issues)”
• “Maximum 1 match per week”
• “Prefer Saturday afternoon slots”

To add a constraint:

1. Go to Profile tab → Official Profile → Constraints.
2. Tap +.
3. Enter your preference or limitation as a note.
4. Tap Save.

💡 Constraints are advisory, not blocking. They guide League Admins when making assignment decisions, but a League Admin can still assign you to any match regardless of your stated preferences. If you have a hard limitation, make sure to reject the assignment and explain why.

On Match Day — Recording Events

If you are the Center Referee assigned to a match, you can also record match events directly in LigiOpen — the same way a Content Admin does.

This can be useful as a backup or when no Content Admin is assigned.

To record events:

1. Open the fixture from your assignments list.
2. The match controls work the same as the Content Admin interface:
   • Tap Kick Off when you blow the whistle
   • Tap + to record goals, cards, substitutions
   • Tap Update Minute to keep the clock current
   • Tap Submit Result at full time

💡 In most matches, a dedicated Content Admin will handle this. You’ll only need to record events yourself if the Content Admin is absent or asks for your help.

For a detailed walkthrough of recording match events, see the Content Admin Guide →.

A Real Scenario: James Manages His Schedule

James Ochieng is a FIFA-certified Center Referee based in Nairobi. He’s been officiating Kenyan football for 8 years.

On Monday morning, he gets a LigiOpen notification: “You’ve been assigned to Gor Mahia vs AFC Leopards — Saturday, Nyayo Stadium, 3:00 PM — Center Referee.”

He opens the app and goes to his Profile tab → Assignments. He can see the fixture details. He’s free that Saturday, so he taps Accept. The League Admin sees the confirmation. ✅

Later that week, he gets another notification: a second assignment for the same Saturday — AFC Leopards vs Tusker (a different match, he’s been assigned to both by mistake). He opens that assignment, taps Reject, and writes “Already assigned to Gor Mahia vs AFC Leopards on this date.”

He also opens his Availability section and adds a note: “Unavailable 20–27 August — CAF referee training camp in Cairo.” This way, no League Admin will assign him during that week without knowing.

On Saturday, James arrives at Nyayo Stadium at 2:00 PM. The Content Admin, Brian Wafula, is already there with the LigiOpen app ready. James focuses on refereeing. Brian Wafula handles the live event recording. Both doing their jobs, the match goes smoothly. ⚽🟡

Coming Soon

The full Official tab is currently in development. When it launches, you’ll get:

• A dedicated Assignments dashboard (upcoming and past)
• Calendar view of your schedule
• Automatic availability sync with the fixture generator
• Direct messaging with League Admins about assignments
• Your match history and officiating statistics

Stay tuned for updates! 🚀