The Chairman of the Ghana Football Association’s (GFA) Referees Assessors and Classification Panel, Mr. Frederick Owusu Amankwah Acheampong has described as disappointing the performance of referee Kenny Joseph Padi in Sunday’s Ghana Premier League (GPL) match between Kumasi Asante Kotoko and Accra Hearts of Oak at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium.
Speaking on Accra based Angel FM on Monday night, Mr Acheampong noted that referee Padi with his vast experience was expected to show consistency and be firm and fair but that was not the case.
Referee Padi has come under intense criticism after what was considered a poor performance in the epic Kotoko versus Hearts GPL game which was decided by a controversial penalty he awarded to the home side in the first time.
According to Executive Council member, apart from the contentious penalty,referee Padi allowed some bad tackles to go unpunished.
He said those that he whistled, he failed to punish the culprits and went ahead to punish players for lighter offences.
“Referee Padi was not consistent on the day; as a fitness instructor, I expected him to do more running in the second half, but I did not see that.”
He said refereeing in the ‘Super Clash’ has been top-notch in recent times but the complaints coming after Sunday’s game from both sides as well as concerns from the fans confirms how bad officiating was.
“I was told it was his first assignment involving the two clubs; so I wondered why a referee with so many years’ experience was handling such a task for the first time; were the selectors aware of his shortcomings,” he quizzed.
Mr. Acheampong also queried why match officials performed without their communication gadgets for the game.
BY RAYMOND ACKUMEY
