PERCEIVED BIASED REFEREEING, SELF-EFFICACY AND MOOD STATES OF PLAYERS OF VISITOR TEAMS OF THE NIGERIAN AMATEUR FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Perceived biased refereeing, self-efficacy and mood states of players of visitor teams of the Nigerian amateur football league was explored among 116 players of 8 amateur football clubs in Southeast Nigeria. Results of the hierarchical regression analysis showed that perceived biased refereeing is significantly and positively related with depressed mood states of the players. The results of the study equally showed that self-efficacy was negatively related with depressed mood states of the players. The study suggests that lack of fairness of game officials could truncate the development of Nigerian football, but high efficacy of the players could ameliorate this negative impact of biased refereeing.