The referee who gave Asante Kotoko a questionable penalty in the Super Clash match against Accra Hearts of Oak has been banned for the remainder of the Ghana Premier League season.
Kenny Padi was suspended by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) after the Match Review Panel determined that the referee erred in giving the penalty to Asante Kotoko.
According to the GFA report, referee Kenny Padi indicated during his questioning that the Hearts player trod on the Kotoko player’s foot, but then recanted after viewing the footage.
He then justified himself by claiming that there was a push and pull at one point, but the video plainly demonstrated that this was not the case.
After Fabio Gama was hauled down in the area by Hearts of Oak’s Nurudeen, Asante Kotoko were awarded a penalty 13 minutes into their match versus Hearts of Oak.
Franck Etouga, a Cameroonian striker, came off the bench to score the game’s sole goal against Hearts of Oak in the GPL match.
READ THE FULL STATEMENT below
Referee Joseph Kenny Padi has been suspended for the rest of the league season after the Match Review Panel of the Ghana Football Association’s decision that the referee erred in awarding the penalty to Asante Kotoko in their Ghana Premier League MatchWeek 24 game against Hearts of Oak.
In other decisions of the Panel, Referee Misbaw Mohammed and Assistant Kenneth Tweneboah-Kodua have been suspended for the rest of the season for erring in the decision to award a penalty to Medeama SC in their match against King Faisal FC.
Below are decisions announced by the Match review panel:
ASANTE KOTOKO VS. HEARTS OF OAK (MATCH DAY 24)
SUMMARY OF COMPLAINT
In the 14th minute of play, Referee Kenny Padi awarded a dubious penalty to Asante Kotoko when Hearts of Oak player, Nurudeen Abdul-Aziz won a 50 ball in their 18-yard box from Fabio Gama (No. 10) of Asante Kotoko.
Referees Response
The referee insisted that the Hearts player stepped on the foot of the Kotoko player which he later agreed that there was no stepping of foot after watching the video. He then defended that there was a push and pull at a point, which the video clearly showed that it was not the case.
OBSERVATIONS, FINDINGS AND GROUNDS OF THE DECISION
Per the video watched in relation to the 14th minutes incident, player number 24 of Hearts of Oak challenged player number 10 of Asante Kotoko fairly. There was no foul committed which warranted any penalty. The hand on the back of the attacker had no impact on the attacker. More so the attacker should not have failing backwards if the fall was because of the hand of the defender, obviously it was not a push so falling backward suggest a premeditated attempt to fake a foul.
We also considered some factors:
- If there was pushing as claimed by the referee, we did not see any movement of the arm from the back to forward. Meaning no HAND MOVEMENT
- Neither pulling movement from front to back.
- The attacker was already throwing himself down in a completely strange way.
- If there was pulling or pushing as claimed by the referee, the attacker should have fallen on the face and not with his back as seen in the video. (FOOTBALL UNDERSTANDING)
The video also showed quite a number of inconsistencies in his decisions during his officiating of the match especially after the penalty incident. The referee lost concentration.
DECISION(S)
The Panel concluded that, per the video watched, and the referee’s defense is in contrast.
Per the video watched the Panel holds the view that the referee erred in awarding the penalty. This error changed the outcome of the match.
Therefore, the Referee Joseph Kenny Padi is suspended for the rest of the season. This includes all GFA organized matches.
