The former football chief has suggested that the Black Stars could’ve won the ultimate at the Fifa World Cup if VAR was used at the tournament eleven years ago
Former Ghana Football Association president Kwesi Nyantakyi has heaped praise on Confederation of African Football following the implementation of VAR at upcoming Africa Cup of Nations holding in Cameroon.
According to the former Fifa executive council member, the Black Stars were favourite to make it to the semifinals of the 2010 Fifa World Cup only to eliminated Uruguay after Luis Suarez used his hands to block a Dominic Adiyiah’s late header from entering the net.
Although, Ghana were awarded a penalty and Suarez sent off for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity, Asamoah Gyan failed to convert the resulting kick.
“If VAR was there, Ghana would have been in the semis and probably won the World Cup,” Nyantakyi told Onua TV as he made an appearance for first time since he was banned by Fifa for his involvement in corruption.
“From where I was sitting, the assistant referee was moving to the centre because he took the ball as a goal but the captain, John Mensah, who didn’t see the ball well rushed the referee and said the ball hit Suarez’s hand and because the referee was not in a better position to see the ball well, he took a penalty,” he explained.
The Black Stars are currently in Doha, Qatar preparing for 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and Nyantakyi has urged Ghanaians to rally behind them to end the country’s run without a major trophy since 1982.