South Africa v. Senegal ended 2-1 in November. Ghanaian referee is now banned for life and FIFA will consider what to do about the result. Article here: http://www.fifa.com/governance/news...r-life-due-to-match-manipulation-2876513.html Match highlights here, with the first goal (phantom penalty) and the second goal (restart taken from the wrong place while the referee engaged two defenders) both shown:
Granted there is more to this than we know, but from the clip could it just be simply incompetence especially on the second goal?
Sure, which is why I'm sure there is more to it than just the calls. "Further information concerning the South Africa v. Senegal match in question will be provided once the decision becomes final and binding."
That sentence doesn't mean what it sounds like you think it means. This is a press release from the Disciplinary Committee. That body dealt with discipline of the match officials. The relevant competition committee, which I believe is the World Cup 2018 Organising Committee, now needs to figure out what to do about the result (let it stand? order a replay? award a forfeit?). That's what the quote means when it says "further information" will be coming. I doubt you'll get further information from FIFA on which specific calls or other evidence led them to sanction the referee; if that comes out, it will be from investigating reporting.
And to this question, sure. Anything can be incompetence or a genuine mistake. The fact that FIFA acted here based on all presented evidence after an investigation was launched tells us otherwise.
I must admit to not understanding this at all. Sure the PK was phantom, but we have all seen phantom PKs given in important matches. This was not the kind of decision that a crooked referee would give because it is so obviously wrong. It is a mistake, and poor observation and decision making, although this does not usually result in a lifetime ban. The second goal came from the free kick that was taken quickly from the wrong place and should have been brought back, but there were still 5 defenders in the PA when the scorer took his shot, and they were not just watching. Again, poor refereeing initially, but not indicative of any crooked intent here. But free kicks taken quickly from the wrong place and not brought back is not entirely unknown, although should never happen at this level. This poor performance would be enough for a referee not to get any more international assignments, and maybe removed from the FIFA list, but not usually banned for life. There must be some other information, such as he got "inducements" from bookies or from RSA FA or where ever to justify this severe punishment. For example there were some odd decisions in the Gold Cup last year but nobody was banned, and Atwell awarded a goal when the ball did not pass between the posts plus other poor decisions. He was removed from the FIFA list, but now is back refereeing in the EPL. PH
Of course there is. And that's the point here. Bad calls happen all the time. Atrocious and inexplicable calls happen occasionally. Hell, there was a missed PK at the WWC a few years ago where a defender literally picked up the ball with her hands. FIFA banned a referee for life because of what happened in this game. They didn't do that because of the YouTube I posted above.
I realize that of course, what were the other things that happened then? Were there some other bad calls, unjustified red cards etc.? And why will FIFA not say what went on for them to issue a lifetime ban, which is a very rare punishment to a referee. Of course the entire organization has been proven to be corrupt for many years, so we can never be sure what is going on with them. Is he just the sacrificial lamb? However, a referee has to be really nuts to try to get away with something like this these days. PH
I would suggest that publicizing the incriminating evidence could reveal methods and sources that FIFA has no interest in disclosing if it wants to continue to combat match-fixing.
I would think that showing how they find out would go a long way to preventing it. What you say would be effective for catching the crooks after the fixing has taken place. And if FIFA itself had not been so corrupt itself at the very top level I might be more accepting of such opaque goings on. Keeping secrets is what got a lot of them in trouble in the first place. In previous cases of crooked referees, as I remember, the actual details of the situation were revealed, e.g. gamblers in Asia, team officials and also the amounts of money involved. Just what and whom are they protecting here? There should be more transparency. Maybe it will come out via inquisitive journalists, who are also very suspicious of things like this, especially from FIFA. PH
"Further information" has arrived: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y...ifier-to-be-replayed-in-november-2907241.html Looks like FIFA waited for the CAS to confirm the referee's life ban before acting. He had a hearing in late July and a decision isn't publicly posted (that I can find) so this must have just happened, which supports FIFA's timeline. Nonetheless, this now means there is an extra qualifier in November and South Africa learns that its only win and 3 of its 4 points are annulled after they just played the most recent two qualifiers this past weekend. The timing for this announcement really couldn't be worse for South Africa, unless it had come after qualification was over. Also not the best for Burkina Faso, either, because Senegal can get 3 more points. I suppose everyone must have known this was a possibility, though, given the banning in March. But you'd think FIFA could have found a way to provisionally make a decision before this past weekend. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_–_CAF_Third_Round#Group_D
Do we know they didn't? Seems possible that they told the potentially affected teams that a replay was a distinct possibility (hint! hint!) but that they couldn't make the decision until the final adjudication. I can see why they wouldn't want to say anything publicly on that score while there was a pending legal action.
Valid point. No idea how something like that might work. Seems logical, but since certain bodies of FIFA (read: committees) have to make such decisions, I have no idea if the professional staff of FIFA can make such suggestions ahead of time with confidence.
It almost looks like FIFA didn't want to allow a replay, but waited to see if Senegal needed the points. I mean, they waited until the very day after the September matches concluded. They couldn't have released this bombshell a week ago, before the latest batch of matches were played? Seriously? Cape Verde won both of their matches, so it probably didn't matter too much to them, but I'm sure Burkina Faso would have liked to have known that Senegal was about to get the opportunity for 3 more points.
Senegal was always going to need points, though. Even if they won both September games, they'd be only on 9 with two to play. Two other teams would have been on 5 and within striking distance (and if RSA had won a match, it would have been even closer). I agree it looks bad, I think the issue really was waiting for the CAS. The question then becomes if waiting for the CAS was smart and whether or not provisional plans had been made and instructions given to the four federations. If no one knew what FIFA was likely to do, then that's a problem.