The World’s football governing body has thrown out the protest filed against Ghana by South Africa, according to reports in the local media.
Fifa has rejected South Africa’s protest against Ghana and Senegalese referee Maguitta Ndiaye following the 1-0 defeat a fortnight ago in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.
The Black Stars were in a dire need of three points to top Group G and book their place in the playoffs while South Africa needed just a point, however, it was Ghana that had the last laugh.
Andre Ayew scored the only goal after referee Ndiaye awarded Ghana a penalty after Leicester City defender Daniel Amartey was heckled down in the penalty box but officials from South Africa believed that the referee was manipulated prompting a complaint to Fifa.
They further alleged that a Ghanaian official travelled to Senegal to meet referee Ndiaye before the game.
Although Ghana responded to the allegations on November 20, the official ruling has since not been released.
However, reports in the local media indicate that Fifa has rejected all the allegations levelled against Ghana and the referee and therefore, there will not be any replay as earlier anticipated.
Despite no evidence of match manipulation and fixing, Senegalese referee Ndiaye Maguette, however, will likely be punished with some games ban since his general performance was below average according to the match review panel.
Ghana will progress to the next stage of the competition and face either Senegal who is currently rye best-ranked county on the continent or Morocco.
There is also a possibility of the Black Stars facing Nigeria, Tunisia or Mali since these countries complete the top five ranked countries left in the qualifiers.
The official draw for the playoffs has been moved from December to January 2022 and the games have been scheduled for March 2022.
Source//peacefmonline.com
