●Joseph Lamptey awarded South Africa a
penalty in their match against Senegal ●The Ghanaian referee gave
it for a non-existent handball by Kalidou Koulibaly ●Replays
showed the ball struck the Senegalese Napoli defender on the knee●South Africa scored the penalty and went
on to win the World Cup qualifier 2-1
FIFA says it has banned
for life the referee who awarded a disputed penalty for South Africa against
Senegal in a World Cup qualifying match.
Associated
Press report continues:
Referee
Joseph Lamptey of Ghana gave a penalty for a non-existent handball against
Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly.
Replays
clearly showed the ball struck Koulibaly's knee and then dropped to the ground.
South
Africa scored the penalty kick to lead 1-0 in the 42nd minute in Polokwane last
November.
The
home team went on to beat Senegal 2-1 and are now in second place in the
four-team group after two matches - Senegal are third.
FIFA
says it will give more details of the case 'once the decision becomes final and
binding.'
Lamptey
can appeal to FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Koulibaly's
Senegal have not qualified for the World Cup since Japan/South Korea in 2002 -
where they reached the quarter-finals.
Their
current manager, former Birmingham and Portsmouth midfielder Aliou Cisse, was
part of that squad 15 years ago.
But his country are now in danger of missing out on the World Cup finals yet again, with only the group-winners qualifying for Russia 2018 - an Lamptey's refereeing mistake factor could prove decisive in such a tight group.
Senegal 'Happy'
Over Ghana Referee Ban
BBC
Africa Live reports that Senegal has said it is "happy" about Fifa's
decision to hand a life ban to Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey for match
fixing.
The
vice-president of Senegal's football federation, Abdoulaye Sow, said:
"Today there are many reasons to be happy about this decision - a decision
that will be remembered as being significant but will also warn everybody that
they are being watched."
He
added that this shows that:
All
cheating and stealing will be punished according to its gravity."
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