Retired FIFA referee, Thomas Nunoo has advised referees officiating in the ongoing 2021/22 Ghana Premier League to be firm with their decisions and apply the laws.
His comment comes out of controversy from officiating in the Ghana Premier League matchday 2 games between AshantiGold and Karela United which happened on Saturday and Kotoko vs Bechem United on Sunday at the Baba Yara stadium.
Speaking to Happy FM’s Odiasempa Kwame Oware on the Happy Sports show’s ‘RespectTheReferee campaign’ segment, Ref Thomas Nunoo who holds the position as the National Treasurer for the Referees Association of Ghana (RAG) shared his thoughts on the two incidents.
“The key thing about a handball infringement is that , when the ball is coming from the player’s own body and touches the hand, the law says it is not a deliberate attempt.”- he mentioned when talking about the incident involving Karela United defender, Emmanuel Anaful at the Obuasi stadium when they played against Karela United.
“He cleared the ball from the goal line before the ball touched his hand . In a football sense, it is not a penalty. The ball was even going out before it touched his hand. It was not going into the goalpost”, he further narrated the incident.
Another questionable decision was the game involving Asante Kotoko and Karela United on Sunday at the Baba Yara stadium.
“That tackle by Abdul Ganiu should not come from a player. That was a very bad tackle from him because he went into the tackle with the aim of not playing the ball but rather the player .”
“The decision calls for a serious yellow and a marl red . If a referee decides to give yellow, it must come with a stern warning immediately”, he added. The referee’s body language must have changed when he decided to give Ganiu the yellow card because such a tackle deserves a red or a yellow card with a serious warning.”
What is RespectTheReferee Campaign?
The Respect the Referee program is an educational and advocacy campaign to educate the fans and public on the laws of the game.
Its main target is to educate the public on the need to desist from assaulting referees during and after games.
By: Ayishatu Zakaria Ali
