Ghanaian referee’s life ban upheld

A World Cup qualifier between South Africa and Senegal will be replayed after the match referee was banned for life by Fifa.

Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey was banned for “match manipulation”.

He awarded a penalty to South Africa in their 2-1 win in November last year for handball but replays showed the ball hit Senegal’s Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly on the knee.

The match is due to be replayed in the November 2017 international window.




Lamptey was initially banned for life in March but on Wednesday the decision was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Lamptey, who also officiated at the Rio Olympics last year, declined BBC Sport’s invitation to comment at the time of his original ban, which came about after a complaint from the Senegal Football Federation.

Senegal and South Africa are currently third and fourth respectively in Africa’s Group D behind Burkina Faso and Cape Verde Islands. Only the top team qualify for next year’s finals in Russia.

Source:BBC