Afful defends under-fire referee Lamptey

Ghana international Harrison Afful has jumped to the defence of under-fire referee Joseph Lamptey who has received the flak after a controversial decision handed his side Esperance the Caf Champions League final slot.

Egyptian giant Al Ahly have reported the Ghanaian official to the Confederation of African Football accusing him of deliberately favouring the Tunisian outfit in their semi-final second leg meeting on Sunday.

Nigerian Michael Enaramo looks to have scored the crucial goal on 50 seconds with his hand but Joseph Lamptey let it stand to the complete shock of the six-time champions Ahly.

But Afful who starred as right-back and voted Man-of-the-match told a local radio station, the knight of the whistle was perfect on the night.

“It normal that when you lose, you will make a lot of such claims but the referee didn’t do anything wrong. He was spot on and made the right decision,” Afful said.

”He is a qualified referee with years of experience and that how come CAF appointed him to officiate the match. He just interpreted the rules and so people should let him be.”

Afful has joined Ghanaian quartet Joetext Frimpong, Opoku Agyeman, Sadat Bukari and Moussa Narry to play in the Caf Champions League final with a Tunisian club