The Ghana Football Association Match Review Panel has suspended referee Kenny Padi for the rest of the season after he was found guilty of erring in the penalty decision in the league game between Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak.
The Class one referee awarded a controversial penalty to Asante Kotoko against Hearts of Oak in week 24 fixture played at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium.
The penalty led to Hearts of Oak losing the game by a lone goal. The Phobian filed a protest against the referee on the decision.
Following a review by the Match Review Panel, Referee Kenny Padi is said to have erred in his decision to award the penalty and has been banned for the rest of the season.
In its ruling, the panel said:
“If there was pushing as claimed by the referee, we did not see any movement of the arm from the back to forward.
Meaning no HAND MOVEMENT and no pulling movement from front to back. The attacker was already throwing himself down in a completely strange way.
If there was pulling or pushing as claimed by the referee, the attacker should have fallen on the face and not with his back as seen in the video. (FOOTBALL UNDERSTANDING)
The video also showed quite a number of inconsistencies in his decisions during his officiating of the match especially after the penalty incident. The referee lost concentration.
The Panel concluded that, per the video watched, and the referee’s defense is in contrast.
Per the video watched the Panel holds the view that the referee erred in awarding the penalty. This error changed the outcome of the match.
Therefore, the Referee Joseph Kenny Padi is suspended for the rest of the season. This includes all GFA organized matches.”
