FIFA to investigate Ghana, South Africa game
Ghana beat South Africa to advance to the next stage of the World Cup qualifiers
It’s been back and forth between the South African Football Association and the Ghana Football Association after the Black Stars defeated Bafana Bafana in the World Cup Qualifier game played in Cape Coast.
The Black Stars hosted the Bafana Bafana on matchday six in the Group G qualifiers on Sunday, November 14, 2021. Ghana created a lot of chances especially in the first half as Jordan Ayew and Daniel Kofi-Kyereh came face to face with South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams but failed to make those chances count.
It took captain Andre Dede Ayew to win the game for Ghana after scoring from the spot in the 33rd minute after referee Moguetta Ndiaye awarded a penalty to the Black Stars following the foul on Daniel Amartey in the 32nd minute.
Andre Ayew made no mistake as he scored to send Ghana to the playoff stage in March, 2022.
Allegations from SAFA and petition to FIFA:
SAFA has written a petition to FIFA to investigate their game against the Black Stars as they cited bad officiating from referee Moguetta Ndiaye, match-fixing and intimidations from the host team.
They went on to say that Ghana needed to win the game to solve socio-economic problems in the country.
On a possible match-fixing, SAFA boss Danny Jordan said “when you know you will get a penalty in the 10th minute, there is a betting spike just before the penalty is given and if that happens and the penalty coincides with the decision then you will know that there is a possibility of cheating. Because how is it that there is a betting spike just before there is a major decision taken? Because they knew when to bet and the time to stake that bet.”
He also said that their petition is not only about the 32nd-minute penalty that was awarded to Ghana which eventually changed the dynamics of the game in favor of the Black Stars.
"We made it clear. Our position is not about the penalty; our position is about the performance of the referee in the entire match. So again, we must not divert that we are raising the issue of the penalty. We are raising the issue of the performance of the referee. That is the issue. So, this is neither here nor there at the moment in the context of our protest to FIFA," he said.
Bafana Bafana captain, Ronwen Williams also told the media at a press conference that the ball boys at the stadium contributed to their our as they intimidated them.
“The balls were very loose but we didn’t want to complain because it will be time-wasting. “You could see the ball boys were running and looking for balls and I think the referee should have stamped his authority.”
FIFA’s response to the petition from SAFA:
The Federation of International Football Association responded that they have received the petition and gave Ghana a deadline of November 20, 2021, to respond to the allegations made by SAFA.
"FIFA has received a complaint from the South African FA in relation to this matter and will review it. Please understand we cannot comment further at this stage,” FIFA in a statement in response to a query from Graphic Online.
GFA’s reaction to allegations by SAFA:
The GFA has responded to these claims by asking SAFA to be 'honest' with their people and 'accept defeat in good faith' as this will not be the last time they will lose a game to the Black Stars in Ghana.
"As a good sporting Association, we know that Bafana Bafana gave it their all but lost to a better team (and must be forthright to tell the South African public this). We wish Bafana Bafana and our colleagues at SAFA better luck next time.”
"The GFA call on the SAFA to responsibly accept defeat & show respect to the Black Stars achievement on the field, for this is not the first time Ghana has defeated South Africa & this will not be the last time. In fact, every South African knows the pedigree of the Black Stars," part of Ghana FA statement on Thursday read.
Counter statements from SAFA CEO:
South Africa FA has hit back, saying the statement issued by Ghana Football Association regarding match-fixing allegations is “unfortunate and distasteful”.
“The Safa position has never been nine hours. The coach said it was three hours, plus two hours which we can’t blame Ghana for — it is their immigration rules,” Motlanthe said.
“But we are also saying let’s let the Fifa process take place, and we will respect the decision. We find the GFA’s statement unfortunate and distasteful because it is full of inaccuracies. We did not submit any complaint to the Ghana FA about our treatment in Ghana.”
The Black Stars of Ghana