The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has handed a three-month suspension to Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey for his “poor performance” in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier between South Africa and Senegal.
Lamptey (photo) was accused of awarding a wrong penalty to South Africa, who picked all three points at home over Senegal in a 2-1 win. Lamptey’s decision at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on 12 November 2016 was questioned by Senegal, the 2002 World Cup quarter-finalists. The FSF also claimed South Africa's second goal from Thulani Serero was invalid as Bafana played while the referee had stopped the game for “an imaginary free-kick and was giving a verbal warning to the Senegalese defensive midfielder Idrissa Gana Guèye and captain Cheikhou Kouyaté”. But that claim was not upheld by the CAF Referees Committee which ruled on the matter on Monday, 21 November 2016. Lamptey, who was chosen as the 2015 Ghanaian Referee of the Year, was suspended for three months and removed from CAN 2017. At this time, it is not clear whether he will remain as a reserve referee on the CAF list of prospective referees for the FIFA World Cup 2018.
Two other match officials, Kenyan referee Davies Omweno and Eritrean AR Berhe O’Michael, are also to sit out for three months, while Rwandan AR Theogene Ndagijimana received a warning for their performance in the match Libya - Tunisia.
CAF Referees Committee decisions:
- Referee Joseph Lamptey (GHA), match South Africa – Senegal, 3 months suspension, poor performance: awarded a wrong penalty for handball despite the fact that the ball never touched the hand of the player.
- Referee Davies Omweno (KEN), match Libya – Tunisia, 3 months suspension, poor performance: wrong positioning and movement, incorrect identification of fouls and failure to administer some disciplinary sanctions.
- Assistant Referee Berhe O’Michael (ERI), match Libya – Tunisia, 3 months suspension, poor performance: offside decisions including one denying a valid goal by Libya.
- Assistant Referee Theogene Ndagijimana (RWA), match Lybia – Tunisia, warning: missed multiple basic offside decisions which denied teams’ promising attacks.
Source: CAF
Two other match officials, Kenyan referee Davies Omweno and Eritrean AR Berhe O’Michael, are also to sit out for three months, while Rwandan AR Theogene Ndagijimana received a warning for their performance in the match Libya - Tunisia.
CAF Referees Committee decisions:
- Referee Joseph Lamptey (GHA), match South Africa – Senegal, 3 months suspension, poor performance: awarded a wrong penalty for handball despite the fact that the ball never touched the hand of the player.
- Referee Davies Omweno (KEN), match Libya – Tunisia, 3 months suspension, poor performance: wrong positioning and movement, incorrect identification of fouls and failure to administer some disciplinary sanctions.
- Assistant Referee Berhe O’Michael (ERI), match Libya – Tunisia, 3 months suspension, poor performance: offside decisions including one denying a valid goal by Libya.
- Assistant Referee Theogene Ndagijimana (RWA), match Lybia – Tunisia, warning: missed multiple basic offside decisions which denied teams’ promising attacks.
Source: CAF
