The Bureau for the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers has ordered a replay of the qualification match between South Africa and Senegal after confirming the referee awarded a non-existent penalty that gifted South Africa a 2-1 home win.
This decision comes after the Court of Arbitration for Sports voted to uphold Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey’s lifetime ban for [perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“unlawful influencing of match results.”[/perfectpullquote]
Lamptey who also officiated at the Rio Olympics gave a late penalty for a non-existent handball against Senegalese defender Kalidou Koulibaly, when replays clearly showed the ball hitting the center back’s knee before hitting the ground.
South Africa scored the 42nd minute penalty and went on to get the side’s only victory so far in the final round of this qualification campaign.
This is not the first time CAF has sanctioned the referee for suspicious performances. He was previously suspended for three months in 2010 after allowing a crucial CAF Champions League semi-final goal when the ball was evidently punched by a field player into the net.
He clearly didn’t learn his lesson repeating the same questionable officiating at the African Cup of Nations in Gabon where he let the play continue for two extra minutes longer than the actual given extra time.
He then awarded a penalty in the last second, blowing for full time immediately after Angola scored the penalty.
Full details haven’t been availed and it can’t been confirmed whether a betting scam, as many suspect was the reason Lamptey gave any of the two late half penalties.
A win could revitalize Senegal’s chances of qualification by giving them a chance to move ahead of joint leaders Burkina Faso and Cape Verde who are leading the table while South Africa have automatically drop out of contention for a spot in Russia.
The match will be replayed within the November 2017 international break with the exact date to be confirmed at the FIFA committee’s next meeting on 14th September.
Featured Photo: Referee Joseph Lamptey (R) during South Africa v Senegal (Courtesy of the AP)
