2022 World Cup Qualifier: FIFA Throws Out South Africa’s Protest Against Ghana

2022 World Cup Qualifier: FIFA Throws Out South Africa’s Protest Against Ghana By Our Reporter World’s football governing body, FIFA has thrown out the petition filed by South Africa to have their 2022 World Cup Qualifier against Ghana replayed. According to reports in the media, the Swiss based organisation thrown out the protest which was filed a fortnight ago by the South African Footba Association (SAFA). The Black Stars of Ghana defeated South Africa 1-0 in a fiercely contested FIFA World Cup Qualifier at the Cape Coast Stadium earlier this month. Captain Andre Ayew scored the only goal of the game from the spot after Senegalses referee Ndiaye awarded Ghana a penalty when Leicester City defender Daniel Amartey was 'brought down' in the penalty box. But officials from South Africa believed that the referee was manipulated prompting a complaint to FIFA. SAFA further alleged that a Ghanaian official travelled to Senegal to meet referee Ndiaye before the game. Although, Ghana responded to the allegations on November 20, the official ruling has since not been released. However, reports in the local media indicate that FIFA has rejected all the allegations leveled against Ghana and the referee and therefore, there will be no replay as demanded by SAFA. Despite no evidence of match manipulation and fixing, Senegalese referee Ndiaye Maguette, however, is likely to be punished with some games ban since his general performance was below average according to the match review panel. Ghana will thus progress to the next stage of the competition and face either Senegal who are currently the best ranked county on the continent or Morocco. There is also a possibility of the Black Stars facing Nigeria, Tunisia or Mali since these countries complete the top five ranked countries left in the qualifiers. The official draw for the playoffs has been moved from December to January, 2022 and the games have been scheduled for March 2022.