The World’s soccer governing body has rejected the complaint made against Ghana from South Africa, according to news reports from the local media.
Fifa has denied South Africa’s protests against Ghana in addition to Senegalese referee Maguitta Ndiaye following the 1-0 defeat that occurred a fortnight ago during the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying match at the Cape Coast sports stadium.
The Black Stars were in a desperate need of three points to be able to win the group G and secure their spot in the play-offs, South Africa on the other hand needed just a point, but it was Ghana who had the final laughter.
Andre Ayew scored the only goal after the referee Ndiaye gave Ghana a penalty following the incident in which Leicester City defender Daniel Amartey was booed in the penalty area, but the officials of South Africa believed that the referee had been manipulated, and complained to Fifa.
The report also claims that a Ghanaian official was in Senegal to meet with referee Ndiaye prior to the game.
While Ghana has responded in a formal manner on the 20th of November, the official decision has not been released since then.
But, news reports from local press indicate that Fifa has rejected all accusations made against Ghana as well as the referee, and thus, there won’t be a replay like earlier was expected.
Despite there is being no evidence of match manipulation or fixing, Senegalese referee Ndiaye Maguette is likely to be punished by a game suspension since his overall performance was not up to par as per the panel of reviewers of the match.
Ghana will advance to the next phase of the competition, and will have to face either Senegal, which is currently the top-ranked on the continent, or Morocco.
There is also a chance of the Black Stars facing Nigeria, Tunisia or Mali because these countries comprise the top five countries that remain in the qualifying.
The draw for the official play-offs was changed between December and January 2022. The matches will be played in March 2022.
Source: Kingaziz.com