OPINION: Crummy officiating in the Ghanaian League -The frustration of football People

By Pascal Nii Gogo Amoah

"The trouble with referees is that they know the rules, but they do not know the game," - Bill Shankly, a Scottish footballer and manager who is best known for his time as manager of Liverpool.

I think what Bill is saying is that referees are experts in terms of interpreting the laws and rules of the game, but are dimwits in understanding the laws of the game, thus the current situation on our domestic football scene with majority of the referees knowing the rules without understanding the game itself.

As we all know, a well-chunk of referees who officiate in our various leagues have incessantly been criticized in their way of officiating, with a handful of them being lauded in their style of handling matches.

Surprisingly, due to the attitude of certain referees - teeming Ghanaian football enthusiasts are turning away in focusing and watching our football anymore but rather lengthening their interest for the EPL, La Liga and Bundesliga etc.

Personally, these huge uptick in support of the foreign leagues has become an headache for me, I've always been supportive of our referees. Of course you call the errors, but honestly speaking I have an appreciation of the difficulty that comes in refereeing and it clearly shows in any assessment that i put across of their performance.

I do feel coaches use referees as a way of swerving blame away from themselves, their players and that of other members making up the technical team.

But this season, officials are making it more difficult for those of us who defend them from inexorable criticism. Some of the errors made have been incredibly bad, and have left me marveling two things: do they actually know the laws of the game? And secondly, are they actually watching the game properly as they should?.

I am not a fan of managers focusing on referees but I have a lot of sympathy with Tema Youth boss Edward Odoom when he said this after Tema Youth lost by a goal away to Bechem United in the Match-Day two outstanding game in the 2016/17 Ghana Premier League in which Tema Youth talisman - Malik Antiri getting shown a red card in the 95th minute of the game.: "If officiating does not change, Ghana football will go nowhere, If things do not improve, some of us will quit the game and walk away."

I vividly believe Odoom needs to address his own shortcomings before he tries to think he knows what's best for match officials, but he has a point nonetheless.

Other teams have had some shocking decisions go against them this season, though the season just started – notably Liberty Professionals captain, Samuel Sarfo also quizzed how referees officiate matches after they succumbed to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Berekum Chelsea.

He, however, stated the poor officiating which referees have started exhibiting will jeopardize the game in Ghana.

"The referee was suppose to take good decisions on the field, but his decisions during the game was very terrible.

"We played well to earn a point at home, just that we were very disappointed with that poor officiating, he fumed."

In the 2015/16 league season the GFA Executive Committee approved the Match Review Panel recommendation to suspend referees Ernest Baafi and Kyeremeh Yeboah for six matches - with that not been the only suspension, but in 2017 what do we see? Is the Match Review Panel dozing on the job?, with referees seeming to be on a poor officiating spree.

From Ghana To World Cup Qualifier

In November 2016, the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) suspended Ghanaian referee - Joseph Lamptey for three months following his poor performance in the World Cup qualifier hurdle between South Africa and Senegal. He was guilty of awarding a controversial penalty to South Africa to help them record a 2-1 win over Senegal at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.

This incident especially, got people questioning the credibility of our various referees in handling matches, but come to think of this, why are these avoidable errors happening more and more? Honestly, mistakes are bound to happen, but these are glaring blunders which can be avoided.

Still asking, though, so why are so many match officials failing to do their jobs properly? These are not dishonest mistakes, but they fall way below the standard that should be set in a professional industry or entity.So this season I have decided to study games randomly to see if the situation will change or get worst, as i have aforementioned some of the decisions that weren't just questionable, but were very terrible.

However, i think some referees and linesmen have stopped concentrating, stopped watching and studying the game closely. Why? Because they want club officials to entice them financially so they can wash their hands of any responsibility. They know they will still get paid as referees, but they also know the teeming fans will call for their heads.

Back to good officiating please. Ref it unbiased, or pull out when given a match to officiate.

Read Full Story