GRi Sports 03 - 04 - 2003

GFA sanctions two LG Top Four referees

Accra (Greater Accra) 03 April 2003 - The two and their assistants in the centre of the Hearts-Liberty and Olympics-Kotoko matches in the just ended LG Top Four competition have been sanctioned by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) after viewing the video script of the matches.

Referee Jonathan Laryea and assistant referee one, J. Dawson-Amoah, who handled the Hearts/Liberty clash which the latter won 1-0 have been suspended for three months effective from the date of the match.

Referee J.B.K. Akporsu, however, had a stiffer one. He has been banned from handling premier league matches for one season. His return to the premiership will depend on his performance in the lower division that is if he is able to convince the Referees Association of Ghana (RAG) that he has matured for premier league.

According to a statement signed by K. Ampem Darko, deputy general secretary of the FA, a careful view of the Liberty/Hearts match revealed that the Liberty attacker was in an offside position at the time the ball was crossed for him and that, the Hearts defender who pushed the ball into his own goal in his bid to save the situation did so when the Liberty attacker was indeed in an offside position and wanted to gain advantage.

The statement also stated that the referee and his assistant failed to award a glaring penalty against Liberty when Kufuor of Hearts was brought down in the penalty box. This, the release stated was an obvious act of incompetence by both the referee and his first assistant referee who was nearer to the spot of the incident.

On the Oly/Kotoko match, the FA found that the defender of Kotoko clearly handled the ball but referee Akporsu did not have the courage to whistle for it. The referee, it noted, looked clumsy and failed to take action on a number of cautionable offences committed by players during the match.

To ensure a successful premier league, the FA will view video tapes every week to see the performance of referees to look for the good ones among them for commendations and also, punish bad performers.

It will be recalled that in the just ended LG Top Four tournament, the public expressed disappointment about expressed disappointment about certain decisions in the two matches. And these seemingly unpopular decisions attracted a lot of unpleasant reactions from club officials and other referees which compelled the FA to investigate.

GRi…/

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