THE South African Football Association is protesting to higher authorities after losing out to Ghana for a place in the Qatar 2022 World Cup playoffs.
The Black Stars defeated South Africa’s Bafana Bafana in controversial circumstances to snatch their group’s sole ticket to the final round of the African qualifying campaign for the World Cup.
Footage from the match shows that Ghana’s Daniel Amartey went down after minimal contact from Rushine De Reuck in the South Africa box, and Senegalese referee Maguette Ndiaye awarded a penalty to the home side.
There is no Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in the African qualifiers, therefore the dubious decision could not be reviewed.
Andre Ayew converted the first-half penalty at the Cape Coast Stadium to give Ghana the 1-0 win that took them above South Africa in the African qualifying Group G table.
Both teams ended up with 13 points each and a goal difference of plus four, but Ghana stole ahead by scoring seven goals overall to South Africa’s six.
SAFA’s Chief Executive Officer Tebogo Motlanthe said in a Twitter voice note on Monday that the association would be challenging the referee’s decisions.
“The association has decided to lodge a formal complaint so that the conduct of the match officials are closely investigated by both FIFA and CAF,” Motlanthe said.
This is not the first time South Africa will be involved in refereeing controversy.
FIFA had to order the 2018 World Cup qualifier between South Africa and Senegal be replayed after the referee awarded a penalty for a nonexistent handball and was banned for life for match manipulation.
The game, which South Africa won 2-1 in November 2016, was replayed a year later.
FIFA said it made the decision to order a replay after the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a life ban for the referee in question, Joseph Lamptey of Ghana.
The global football governing body found Lamptey guilty of breaching the rule relating to “unlawfully influencing match results”.
He gave a penalty for a nonexistent handball against the Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly during the game in Polokwane, South Africa. Replays showed the ball struck Koulibaly’s knee.
