The South African FA has issued an official complaint that might end the Senegalese referee’s career.
Ghana defeated South Africa in a World Cup qualifying game on Sunday. The Black stars secured a place in the final round of the qualifiers. However, huge criticism toward the referee Ndiaye Maguette overshadowed the outcome of the match.
Maguette awarded a penalty to Ghana in the 33rd minute, which turned out to be the only goal of the night. South African FA issued a complaint to FIFA after the game, demanding an official investigation into the game.
SAFA went on to provide new evidence of match-making on Wednesday, which can end Maguette’s career if proved. According to The South African, the referee is unlikely to officiate games in the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations. If the allegations are proved, the Senegalese referee might even face a life ban from refereeing.
What has been said?
Retired referee Ace Ncobo slammed Maguette for his performance during the qualifier.
“My stance is that if we had an opportunity to have five referees on the panel for Qatar 2022 and all five of them displayed this kind of deliberate bias in any of their matches then all five of them must not be given the opportunity to go to Qatar 2022,” Ncobo said (via KickOff).
“If there is one referee who has displayed deliberate bias as we have now discovered he doesn’t deserve to go there. You can’t take somebody who makes it his mission to unlawfully manipulate a match and influence its outcome to the highest stage in the world.
“The World Cup is a very powerful tool for social cohesion the world over. It can’t be given to people who show a lack of integrity so we would not expect him to form part of the panel.”
SAFA president Danny Jordaan also urged FIFA against using Maguette in the next year’s World Cup.
He said: “The painful part based on this analysis is that the referee who handled the first half could never be considered in any World Cup or qualification match. The referee in the second half can be considered so it depends on which referee you want to send.
“This is the problem, how is it that one person with the same level of experience can have such contradictory application of the laws of the game. It leads to a lack of integrity, possible dishonesty, manipulation and so on and if that is caught then that person similarly can never go to the World Cup. We cannot subject any other nation to what we have found here.”
Will Ghana qualify to the next round?
The result of the investigation might change the final standings of Group G of the qualifiers.
As of now, Ghana have won the group with 13 points. South Africa collected the same amount of points and held the same goal difference. However, they were edged out by Ghana’s total goal tally.
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