Abe Pobee alludes FIFA won’t grant SA rematch with Ghana
Jonathan Abe Pobee
Ghanaian football administrator Jonathan Abe Pobee says he disagrees with calls from the South African Football Association for a replay of their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier with the Black Stars.
The South Africans have questioned the decisions of Senegalese referee Ndiaye Maguetta in Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium.
The result sealed Ghana’s progression to the final round of the African qualifiers with the Bafana Bafana eliminated.
However, the controversy surrounding the Black Stars win continues.
The Ghana Football Association has responded to a protest filed by the South African Football Association (SAFA) at FIFA.
SAFA President, Danny Jordaan, who is bidding to get FIFA to order a rematch, says there is a huge suspicion that the match was fixed, as he can prove betting spikes before major refereeing decisions were made.
FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee will sit on the protest from 23rd November 2021.
Speaking to Class Sports, Jonathan Abe Pobee insists that SAFA has no basis to demand for a replay of the match.
“If we are talking of only the penalty, the scores will stand. The referee could be punished, but the scoreline will stand”, Pobee said.
“I am surprised about the South Africans. FIFA gave them a chance when they asked Ghana to play Ethiopia in South Africa. And, FIFA allowed South Africa to play their match (against Zimbabwe) after Ghana’s. If FIFA gave you that chance to do whatever they want to do anything, why should they say Ghana has cheated them. I don’t see their problem,” he added.
At a press conference yesterday, Bafana Bafana coach, Hugo Broos revealed that he knew his team will lose the match after the first 15 minutes, following poor refereeing decisions.
His defender, Rushine De Reuck, who committed the penalty alleges decisions were already decided before the game started, claiming the referee promised to book him before the game started.
Former referee Ace Ncobo added that his independent analysis proves 90.9% of decisions went against South Africa.
Source: Classfm
