‘Be honest to your public and accept defeat in good faith’ – GFA to SAFA

The Ghana Football Association has asked its counterpart from South Africa to be ‘honest’ with their people and ‘accept defeat in good faith’ following unmerited tantrums after Bafana Bafana lost 1-0 to the Black Stars to miss out on the 2022 Africa World Cup playoffs

The South African Football Association (SAFA) has been embroiled in a media scheme to paint a gloomy picture after missing out on the global showpiece.

They are pointing fingers at Senegalese referee Ndiaye Maguette and Ghana for what they claim as poor treatment.

But the Ghana FA has urged SAFA to accept defeat in good faith and move on.

“As a good sporting Association, we know that Bafana Bafana gave it their all but lost to a better team (and must be forthright to tell the South African public this). We wish Bafana Bafana and our colleagues at SAFA better luck next time.” part of Ghana FA statement on Thursday read

Ghana reached the African World Cup play-offs courtesy of their win.

The match-defining moment took place in the 32nd minute when Ghana’s Leicester City midfielder Daniel Amartey fell to the ground in the penalty area following a contact from South Africa defender Rushine de Reuck.

Andre Ayew tucked the resulting penalty kick to ultimately dump South Africa out of World Cup contention.

The Ghana FA has come out with all guns blazing against the South African Football Association (SAFA), saying the latter was “shocking and disrespectful” in how it portrayed the events that transpired in Cape Coast on Sunday.

In a tersely worded statement, the GFA said it was “shocking, irresponsible, and outright disrespect to note that our colleagues from South Africa Football Association have chosen to spread falsehoods to the media rather than project the real picture of events before, during, and after the game”.