Executive Member of the Ghana Football Association, Winfred Osei Kweku Palmer has urged referee Joseph Lamptey appeal his ban at Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS).
The experienced and respected referee has been banned for life by the world governing body FIFA.
According to FIFA, Joseph Lamptey was found guilty of breaching article 69 paragraph 1 (unlawfully influencing match results) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match between South Africa and Senegal on November 12, 2016.
But, Osei Palmer on Asempa FM’s Ultimate Sports Show Wednesday, believes Mr. Lamptey should appeal his ban at FIFA.
“I was sad when I heard the news because when you talk about the development of football, referees are part of it and that is why the FA organize clinics and workshops for them.
“We know that Joseph Lamptey is one of the best referees we have in Africa and with this decision from FIFA, I think it is a bad decision for Ghana football.
“I will advise the public that we should be careful when we are talking about this issue because the entire ruling is not out yet. The Ethics Committee of FIFA say he has manipulated some rules of the game so let for FIFA to bring out the full ruling so we can get to see what he did exactly wrong.
“Joseph Lamptey should fight this case to CAS level. The reason is that unless FIFA proves that he received bribe in other to influence the match, he should appeal for this case at the CAS level and throughout the game we did not witness any incident that he was helping any of the teams and since we did not see that I will urge him to appeal his ban at CAS because we know when referees are influencing matches.” He added.
Source: Samuel Kow Appiah
