Be guided by Lamptey’s ban-• GFA boss advises referees

Ghana Football Association (GFA) President, Kwesi Nyantakyi, has advised referees in the country to use FIFA's lifetime ban on Joseph Lamptey as a wake-up call to ensure fairness when officiating.

Mr Nyantakyi described referee Lamptey’s ban as unfortunate and called on his colleagues to work with diligence and fairness to avoid  a similar fate.

Referee Lamptey lost his appeal after the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) dismissed his quest to overturn the decision of FIFA's Disciplinary Committee to hand him a lifetime ban from all football activities.

FIFA's Disciplinary Committee indicted the Ghanaian referee for manipulating the 2018 World Cup qualifier between South Africa and Senegal played last November, after awarding a dubious penalty which enabled the home side to break the deadlock. Last week, FIFA ordered a replay of the match after CAF rejected Lamptey’s appeal to overturn the ban.

In an interview with the Graphic Sports, Nyantakyi said "It is rather unfortunate that he lost his appeal and I hope it will be a wake up call to other referees in the country."

"This is because if one of the best referees in the country can go through this then it can happen to any other person. This must encourage them to be circumspect in their officiating," he added.

When asked whether the decision to dismiss referee Lamptey's appeal by CAS would affect others at international matches, Mr Nyantakyi, who is also CAF’s 1st Vice-President, noted that it would be wrong to judge everyone in the profession in Ghana as bias just because of one bad incident involving one of Ghana’s elite referees.

He said referee Lamptey was one of the best that many looked up to in the profession until this unfortunate incident happened.