The Knight of the Whistle has opted to call it a quit following the football association’s decision to handed a stiff punishment
Ghana Premier League referee Kennedy Padi has retired from officiating following the Football Association’s decision to ban him for the rest of the season, according to retired referee Owusu Mensah Kallah.
Padi was found guilty of manipulating the scoreline in the game between Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium a fortnight ago as a penalty he awarded Kotoko helped them to win the day.
Although, he argued during a sitting by the Match Review Panel that Kotoko midfielder Fabio Gama was brought down in the box, video replays showed that the Brazilian rather dived, hence making the call a wrong decision.
“Kennedy Padi has decided to retire from officiating football games going forward,” Kalla told Kessben TV.
“I’m sad that Padi is using this case to retire. Oh yes, he is not happy with the situation. He told me one-on-one that he is not going to officiate any game again even after his suspension is over.
“He feels that he was not treated well. Personally, I feel that the penalty he awarded to Kotoko player Fabio Gama was legitimate. We can liken it to that of Ghana vs South Africa where Daniel Amartey was impeded and got penalty for Ghana,” he added.
FULL DECISION BY GHANA FA ON PADI
The referee insisted that the Hearts player stepped on the foot of the Kotoko player which he later agreed that there was no stepping of foot after watching the video. He then defended that there was a push and pull at a point, which the video clearly showed that it was not the case.
OBSERVATIONS, FINDINGS AND GROUNDS OF THE DECISION
Per the video watched in relation to the 14th minutes incident, player number 24 of Hearts of Oak challenged player number 10 of Asante Kotoko fairly. There was no foul committed which warranted any penalty. The hand on the back of the attacker had no impact on the attacker. More so the attacker should not have failing backwards if the fall was because of the hand of the defender, obviously it was not a push so falling backward suggest a premeditated attempt to fake a foul.
We also considered some factors:
If there was pushing as claimed by the referee, we did not see any movement of the arm from the back to forward. Meaning no HAND MOVEMENT
Neither pulling movement from front to back. The attacker was already throwing himself down in a completely strange way.
If there was pulling or pushing as claimed by the referee, the attacker should have fallen on the face and not with his back as seen in the video. (FOOTBALL UNDERSTANDING)
The video also showed quite a number of inconsistencies in his decisions during his officiating of the match especially after the penalty incident. The referee lost concentration.
DECISION(S)
The Panel concluded that, per the video watched, and the referee’s defense is in contrast.
Per the video watched the Panel holds the view that the referee erred in awarding the penalty. This error changed the outcome of the match.
Therefore, the Referee Joseph Kenny Padi is suspended for the rest of the season. This includes all GFA organized matches.
