Kotoko Circles withdraw threat against Ref Sukah - But insist penalty is doubtful
The supporters front of Kumasi Asante Kotoko (the Circles) has withdrawn an earlier threat to harm Referee Samuel Sukah for awarding a controversial penalty to rivals Hearts of Oak but slammed the GFA Executive Committee (Exco)’s report exonerating the referee, describing the recent video on the penalty as ‘doctored.’
Advertisement
The Circles chairman, Kwaku Amponsah (K 5), said the recent video used by the FA to justify why the referee was exonerated was edited and could, therefore, not be true.
“But this is football and after self-introspection, there is no point attacking the referee, but the truth is that it was a bad penalty,” K 5 told the Graphic Sports in Kumasi in reaction to statements from a section of the fans planning to vent their spleen on the referee.
The Match Review Panel of the FA concluded that Referee Sukah was right in the decision he took to award Hearts the late penalty in their eighth week match against Kotoko at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Mr K 5 said the decision by the FA was an indictment and a disgrace to the association and should have rather reprimanded the referee to serve as a deterrent to others.
The fans, two weeks after the match, are still up in arms against Referee Sukah, issuing threats on various sports platforms in Kumasi.
But in an apparent move to water down the threats, Mr K 5 said there was no need for the referee to be afraid “because it was purely football.”
It is unclear, however, whether his views represented the entire mood of the club since management was yet to react officially.
“Management is yet to react but I don’t think this is worth pursuing. But that is not to say management would not react,” he said.