The knight of cups whistle is reportedly found having betting slips on his phone prior to Premier League games
Ghana Premier League referee Isaac Osei has been caught having betting slips on his mobile phone by the Integrity officials of Ghana FA, according to a report filed by Kessben FM.
Following the rampant increase of match fixing allegations, Ghana FA has strengthened their security measures to reduce or possibly eradicate the canker.
As a result, an Integrity Officer was appointed three year ago and he has also set up a team to help him in his works. The team has been seen at various league centers undergoing investigations and one of their methods include the scrutinization of mobile phones of referees and selected players from the two clubs involved in a a game.
The team was seen at Sogakope a fortnight ago when Asante Kotoko visited WAFA in Sogakope as well as Great Olympics’ 2-0 victory over Berekum Chelsea at the Accra Sports Stadium last week.
According to Kessben Sports, referee Isaac Osei has been caught allegedly having slips indicating bets staked on football matches prior to a Ghana Premier League game.
Upon further interrogations, Osei is reported to have revealed that he is not the only Ghanaian referee who is involved in football betting and further added that even Ghanaian football administrators are also part.
It will be recalled that referee Osei was suspended for the rest of the season three weeks ago after he was found guilty of failing to award Legon Cities an obvious penalty against Berekum Chelsea.
“The GFA Match Review Panel has been suspended Referee Isaac Osei for erring in the decision not to award a penalty in favour of Legon Cities FC in their Ghana Premier League Matchweek 24 Berekum Chelsea FC,” a GFA statement read.
Below are decision announced by the Match review panel:
BEREKUM CHELSEA VS. LEGON CITIES (MATCH DAY 24)
SUMMARY OF COMPLAINT
In the 37th minute of play, the Referee awarded a penalty to Berekum Chelsea and an alleged foul by Legon Cities player number 5 on Berekum Chelsea player number 53.
The Referee denied Legon Cities a penalty for a foul committed by Berekum Chelsea’s goalkeeper in the 42nd minute.
The goalkeeper was seen dragging the Legon Cities player down by grabbing him with both hands around the neck.
OBSERVATIONS, FINDINGS AND GROUNDS OF THE DECISION
In the 37th minute of the match, a defender of Legon Cities fouled an attacker of Berekum Chelsea. The referee awarded a penalty to Berekum Chelsea.
Per the video watched the angle of foul was not clear. For the benefit of doubt the referee was in a better position to have seen the foul.
In the 42nd minute incident, the goalkeeper of Berekum Chelsea was clearly seen pulling down Legon Cities player number 21 in the penalty area. This was a clear incident of foul which the referee ignored. Thus, an obvious penalty was ignored.
The referee was invited to explain his decisions. He explained why he gave the first penalty but was quick to accept that he erred completely for not awarding penalty to Legon Cities in the second incident.
Referee Isaac Osei’s decision changed the outcome of the match. He is therefore suspended for the rest of the season. This includes all matches organized by GFA.
During the sitting of the Match Review Panel, we called for the match between Samartex FC and Ebusua Dwarfs which was played during match day (19) nineteen.
In the later stages of the game, a penalty was awarded to Samartex FC per the video watched, the defender of Dwarfs in attempt to play the ball stepped on the ball and the attacker kicked it. The attacker deliberately went down without any contact from the defender and the referee picked a penalty. The Panel saw this penalty as wrongfully awarded.
Referees response
After the video was sent to him, he kept on defending that the defender of Dwarfs kicked the leg of the attacker of Samartex FC which the video did not support or showed.
The referee, Felix Agbozo erred in awarding the penalty. He is therefore suspended for the rest of the season. This includes all matches organized by GFA.