There is a perception in football circles in Ghana that many of our referees are influenced to officiate matches to favour some clubs. It is difficult to prove this allegation just as it is difficult to prove any bribery allegation in other sectors of Ghanaian public life unless the giver and the receiver of bribe are caught red handed.
Be that as it may, it is instructive not to dismiss the submissions made by one Atta Amoako, one time chairman of the Ashanti Regional Referees� Association on Happy Fm and Peace Fm last week that he believes some referees in Ghana are influenced but it is very difficult to prove.
These submissions coming from a high level member of the association give credence to the perception that some referees are corrupt. We do not have to dig deep to conclude that all is not well with refereeing in this country.
Bad officiating at matches is the cause of riots at centres where there are dubious penalty awards and disputed goals; bad officiating is the cause of certain clubs wrongfully being relegated when clubs that are not worthy of promotion get promoted; indeed, bad officiating is the cause of many matches coming to an abrupt end when fans of an away team see that they are being given a raw deal.
We dare say that most often it is teams that are playing in away matches that suffer most at the hands of bad referees. It is important to point out however that referees are like judges in a litigation case at the courts of law and their impartiality is extremely important to bring about equity.
When a team loses a match officiated well and fairly by a referee, nobody raises an eyebrow. But when a team becomes a victim of obvious biased officiating, then there is great because for concern and the only reason that may be put down to bad officiating is nothing but bribery.
The President of the GFA last year jokingly said that referees should collect bribe money but not do what the bribe givers want them to do. This was taken out of context by many commentators to mean that he was endorsing bribery among referees but certainly that was not the case.
There is a school of thought in this country that our referees have not been doing well outside the country because they are not seen to be competent. For instance, during the recent CAN 2010 in Angola not a single Ghanaian referee was in the middle of affairs. We have also been informed that not Ghanaian referee qualified to participate in the forthcoming World Cup in South Africa this year. This is very unpleasant news indeed and no patriotic Ghanaian is happy about it.
We are therefore calling on our referees to do away with this negative perception that we have of them. Let us have good officiating at all matches so that interest in football will once again come back. At the moment attendance at matches is extremely bad and many people have put his down to bad officiating, among other negative reasons. Referees, be up and doing for you are the judges on the football field.
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