Citi Sport
Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey has been handed a lifetime ban by world football governing body FIFA for what it describes as ‘match manipulation’ in the tie involving South Africa and Senegal in November 2016.
The match ended 2-1 in favour of South Africa but a penalty to South Africa by Lamptey caused outrage among the Senegalese and shock among the South Africans.
The ball went off the thigh of a Senegalese defender but Lamptey pointed to the spot.
FIFA stated its decision via a press released on its website on Monday stating that:
“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has decided to ban the Ghanaian match official Joseph Odartei Lamptey from taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at national and international level for life.
The official was found guilty of breaching art. 69 par. 1 (unlawfully influencing match results) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ qualifying match between South Africa and Senegal on 12 November 2016.”
FIFA’s ban follows the one handed out by the Confederation of African Football to Lamptey in November 2016. He was given a three-month ban for his performance in the match in question.
Unbelievable decisions
The Senegalese Football Federation described a number of the calls made by Lamptey in that match against South Africa as ” scandalous” and they were very upset at his showing on the day.
Even though South Africa won the tie in question, many observers of the match admitted that Lamptey made so many mistakes in the match.
Pundits on SABC TV’s coverage of the match, notably former referee Sylvester Ndaba, were taken aback by the decision and Nbada said he was “flummoxed and flabbergasted” at the performance of the referee.
By: Nathan Quao/citifmonline.com/Ghana