The Ghana Football Association ( GFA) Match Review Panel has exonerated five referees after reviewing complaints received from some clubs in the ongoing Division one League.

Below are the decisions:

ACCRA YOUNG WISE VS. HEART OF LIONS (DOL MATCH DAY 18)

Heart of Lions made an official complaint that Assistant Referee 1 – Samuel Davor flagged a clear goal as offside which was equally whistled by Referee Atuobi D. Boateng in the 11th minute of the 1st half. Again, in the 83rd minute of the game, Assistant Referee 1 – Samuel Davor allowed an offside goal against us (Heart of Lions), but this time Referee Boateng looked surprised but eventually whistled to allow the goal to stand.

After watching the video of the game, the Match Review Panel observed that the 11th minute goal scored was offside – However, the 83rd minute goal scored by player in jersey number 38 was right.

DECISION(S)

The referee is therefore exonerated for taking good decisions. The panel would like to commend him for his good work.

ACCRA LIONS’ FC VS. VISION FC (DOL MATCH DAY 19)

Vision FC complained that, in the 74th minute, a ball was handled in the home team (Accra Lions) penalty box by their defender Addo (No. 3) but Referee Julian Nunoo overlooked and waved play-on. Again, player Joseph Mensah was brought down in the home team’s penalty box in the 87th minute by Kelvin Kyei (No. 30) but it was ignored. In the 90th minute a similar incident occurred in the away team (Vision FC) box involving their player Ayiku Tetteh (No. 72) and Amedor (No. 20) which Referee Julian Nunoo awarded a penalty to Accra Lions.

After watching the video of the match, the match review panel observed that the attacker handled the ball, but the hand was on the body, hence no foul was committed. The referee did not err by ignoring the penalty. Player Joseph Mensah being brought down in the home team’s penalty box in the 87th minute could not be traced in the clip. With the incident on the 90th minute, player number 72 (Ayiku Tetteh) tripped his opponent number 20 in the penalty area and the referee rightly awarded the penalty.

DECISION(S)

Referee Julian Nunoo rightly ignored the penalty call for the away team. The Panel commends him for taking good decisions on the other two complaints.

ACCRA YOUNG WISE VS FC NANIA (DOL MATCH DAY 20)

Nania FC complained that, Referee Adjei after 90 minutes, added 4 minutes and about 2 minutes into added time, a Nania FC player in jersey number 11 was seriously hurt and lied on the floor around the 18 yard box of the home team. The Assistant Referee 2 (Henry Essel) raised his flag but the referee refused to stop the game allowing the home team (Accra Young Wise) to counter attack which led to the only goal of the game. Nania FC believes most of the Referee’s decisions were only based on his discretion without watching or taking into consideration what his assistants raised.

The Match Review Panel after watching the video of the match observed a player in green jersey number 20 was sitting on the ground near the penalty area of the opponent while play was ongoing. The Assistant 2 did not flag as claimed by the complainant. An attack was initiated by the opponent which caught the attention of the referee which he followed the action to conclusion before giving the ‘injured’ player attention.

DECISION(S)

The referee should be given the benefit of doubt since the injured player was sitting down when the attack was initiated. The referee had the impression that the player was wasting time.

PACIFIC HEROES VS. NEW EDUBIASE UNITED (DOL MATCH DAY 20)

New Edubiase United complained that the Assistant Referee 1 ignored a clear off-side resulting in a goal against the club in the 35th minute of the 2nd half.

Per the video watched by the Match Review Panel, the 35th minute complaint that the goal scored was an offside goal was not the case. Before the kick, player number 6 of the home team put all players of the opponent on-side. The player in jersey number 39 was not offside at the time of kicking the ball.

DECISION(S)

The referee is therefore exonerated for correct decisions taken.

VENOMOUS VIPERS VS. ACHIKEN (DOL MATCH DAY 20)

Venomous Vipers complained that between the 43rd – 45th minute of the 1st half, a perfect goal was scored by the home team (Venomous Vipers) but was flagged for an infringement by Line One which the referee overturned the goal. Achiken player number 6 went down, and the referee called for assistance from the Red Cross team, but he was carried away by his team (Achiken) in the full glare of the referee in the 25th minute of the 2nd half.

Per the video watched by the Review Panel, there was some heckling between the defender and the attacker so the referee should be given the benefit of doubt for awarding a foul instead of a goal. In the second incident the referee was equally right for issuing a caution to player number six for time wasting. However, the behaviour of the away team medical officials who refused that the injured player was carried on the stretcher but rather decided to carry the player at the back of one of the medical officials and subsequently by another opposing player when the referee called the 1st Aiders to assist the player out of the field of play was a very bad behavior.

DECISION(S)

For the benefit of doubt the referee is exonerated.

The behaviour of the officials of Achiken was bad and are therefore referred to the Disciplinary Committee for further action.