Qatar 2022: There’s no basis to replay Ghana-South Africa match – Retired referee

A retired Ghanaian Referee, Wilson Sey has said there is no law in football to overturn the Black Stars 1-0 win over South Africa in Sunday’s 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

South Africans are unhappy with the performance of Senegalese referee Ndiaye Maguetta after he awarded Ghana a penalty, that was converted by Andre Ayew as the Black Stars reached the play-offs.

Chief Executive Officer of the South Africa Football Association, Tebogo Motlanthe believes the Bafana Bafana’s slim defeat at the Cape Coast Stadium was fixed and has promised to take the matter to FIFA to seek a replay of the match.

But speaking to class sports, Wilson Sey disagreed with the option of re-playing the match.

“There’s no rule that will call for a replay. There was nothing that calls for a replay. Even if the referee erred, it’s the referee that will be punished, nothing will happen to the match. They [South Africa] have their own intentions, some want to do manipulations, but the rules do not favour that,” he said.

Mr Sey further indicated that Senegalese referee, Ndiaye Maguetta was right to award the Black Stars the much discussed penalty against Bafana Bafana.

Leicester City’s Daniel Amartey fell onto the pitch following a “minimum” touch from South African defender, Rushine De Reuck.

“In football, the referee takes decisions from different angles. From what I looked at, at least you see something. There was a trip. It can be leg, touch or a push. Whether is a strong or soft push, as far as someone goes off balance, an infringement has occurred,” Mr Sey remarked.

“The referee has that discretion to either take it or move away. When it’s a 50-50 decision, the discretion is with the referee. I don’t think there was something wrong,” he added.

South Africa is praying for precedent that saw Fifa took the unusual step of ordering a replay of a 2018 World Cup qualifier against Senegal after the referee was found guilty of match manipulation.

The Bafana Bafana had initially beaten Senegal 2-1, but Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey was adjudged to have made two wrong decisions with the sole purpose of facilitating a minimum number of goals to make certain bets successful.

The two wrong calls included a penalty to Bafana Bafana when Senegal’s Kalidou Koulibaly was adjudged to have handled the ball, despite replays showing it had hit his knee.

South Africa lost 2-0 as Senegal qualified for the World Cup in Russia.

By virtue of the win against South Africa, Ghana joins Egypt, Mali, Tunisia, Senegal and DR Congo as the countries to qualify for the play-off round so far.

Source: clssfmonline.com