Referee Kenny Padi suspended for ‘dubious’ penalty against Hearts of Oak
Premier League referee Kenny Padi has been suspended by the match review panel for erring and awarding a dubious penalty to Kumasi Asante Kotoko against Accra Hearts of Oak in the Week 24 clash between the two at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi.
The penalty awarded for a foul on Fabio Gama was converted by Franck Mbella to shoot the Porcupine Warriors to the lead and that was the only difference as the game ended in a draw.
Hearts later filed a protest against the referee for the decision. And according to the decision of the panel, “In the 14th minute of the play, Referee Kenny Padi awarded a dubious penalty to Asante Kotoko when Hearts of Oak player, Nurudeen Abdul-Aziz won a 50 ball in their 18 yard box from Fabio Gama (No.10) of Asante Kotoko”.
According to the panel, “The referee insisted that the Hearts player stepped on the foot of the Kotoko player which he later agreed that there was no stepping of foot after watching the video. He then defended that there was a push and pull at a point, which the video clearly showed that it was not the case”.
And according to the evidence, “Per the video watched in relation to the 14th minutes incident, player number 24 of Hearts of Oak challenged player number 10 of Asante Kotoko fairly. There was no foul committed which warranted any penalty. The hand on the back of the attacker had no impact on the attacker. More so the attacker should not have falling backwards if the fall was because of the hand of the defender, obviously it was not a push so falling backward suggest a premeditated attempt to fake a foul”.
The panel considered the following:
- If there was pushing as claimed by the referee, we did not see any movement of the arm from the back to forward. Meaning no HAND MOVEMENT
- Neither pulling movement from front to back.
- The attacker was already throwing himself down in a completely strange way.
- If there was pulling or pushing as claimed by the referee, the attacker should have fallen on the face and not with his back as seen in the video. (FOOTBALL UNDERSTANDING)
He was not only culpable in that incident but per the panel, “The video also showed quite a number of inconsistencies in his decisions during his officiating of the match, especially after the penalty incident. The referee lost concentration”.
The panel thus concluded on the following:
“The Panel concluded that, per the video watched, and the referee’s defense is in contrast.
“Per the video watched the Panel holds the view that the referee erred in awarding the penalty. This error changed the outcome of the match.
“Therefore, the Referee Joseph Kenny Padi is suspended for the rest of the season. This includes all GFA organized matches.”
Source: GFA Communications
