Referee Joseph Kenny Padi has been suspended for the rest of the Ghana Premier League season after the Ghana Football Association’s (GFA) Match Review Panel decided that he erred in awarding a penalty to Kumasi Asante Kotoko in a matchday 24 match against Accra Hearts of Oak.
The Panel concluded that Referee Padi erred in awarding the penalty which changed the outcome of the match and resulted in a 1-0 victory for Kotoko.
Padi has also been suspended from officiating all GFA organized matches.
Complaint
The complaint accused Referee Padi of awarding a dubious penalty to Kotoko when Heart’s defender, Nurudeen Abdul-Aziz won a 50-50 ball in the 18-yard box from Kotoko playmaker Fabio Gama.
Response
At the hearing, referee Padi reportedly insisted that Abdul-Aziz stepped on the foot of the Gama but later agreed that there was no stepping on the foot of the Brazilian after watching the video.
The GFA statement said the referee then, “defended that there was a push and pull at a point, which the video clearly showed that it was not the case”.
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