A Ghanaian referee, Joseph Kenny Padi, has not known peace since officiating the week 24 fixture of the Ghanaian premier league.
Padi officiated the match exactly 2 weeks ago whereby the country’s premier league 24-time champions Asante Kotoko were playing against Hearts of Oaks, the current title holders, at Baba Yara Sports stadium.
Asante Kotoko beat the Oaks with one goal after the referee awarded them a penalty that sparked a lot of reactions among the Ghanaians, some saying it was not worth it.
The controversial penalty was awarded during the 17th minute of the game after Asante’s Fabio Gama proclaimed that he had been fouled by Hearts of Oak midfielder Nurudeen Abdul Aziz.
Padi’s decision to give Asante the penalty was considered unprofessional and the Hearts of Oaks proceeded to file a protest against him.
“The complaint was lodged with the Ghana Football Association on Monday, April 11, 2022. The import of our plea is to pray on the Review Committee to take a second look at the CONTROVERSIAL PENALTY awarded against the club. Management is disheartened by referee Padi’s poor judgement which subsequently caused us to lose the game,” Hearts of Oak said in a statement.
The class one referee has however revealed that he is undergoing a difficult time ever since he made that decision.
Speaking to Ewiase FM, Padi said that he has been having sleepless nights and has not been able to erect since the incident.
“I have not had an erection since the day I awarded the penalty against Hearts of Oak. Sometimes I get strange and horrific nightmares, I can’t sleep,” he said.
The Ghana Football Association has however suspended Paddy for the rest of the season after GFA’s match review panel found that he had favored the Kotokos.
“Per the video watched in relation to the 14th-minute 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 fallen backwards if the fall was because of the hand of the defender, obviously it was not a push so falling backward suggests a premeditated attempt to fake a foul, ” part of the panel’s ruling read.
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