Lamptey’s ban should serve as a lesson to Suker – Kojo Addae Mensah

Chief Executive Officer of Data Bank, Kojo Addae Mensah has advised referee Samuel Suker to take a cue from the lifetime ban placed on referee J.O. Lamptey by FIFA.

Speaking on GTV’s Sports Night Live, Addae Mensah said when referees decide to make certain controversial calls in epic games, it does not auger well for the development and promotion of our football.

“I will advise referee Samuel Suker to take a cue from the lifetime ban placed on referee J.O Lamptey. FIFA took time to go into matches that Lamptey had handled over the last ten (10) years. The last ten years of his career was what was used against him. So if our referees feel they can decide games anyhow, because they feel no one is watching, they should rethink. Suker might feel no one is watching, but I will advise he takes a lesson from what has happened to J.O. Lamptey”, he said.

Suker’s call for a penalty against Asante Kotoko in their league game against Hearts of Oak at the Accra Sports Stadium was greeted with much uproar, with the Kumasi-team claiming Suker’s call was wrong.

But the Ghana Football Association (GFA)’s Referees Review Committee has cleared referee Suker from any wrongdoing, claiming Suker’s call rewarding Hearts a penalty on the day, was a correct call.

Ghana’s elite referee J.O. Lamptey was slapped with a lifetime ban by FIFA, for a penalty he took for South Africa against Senegal in a World Cup qualifier, which drew the fury of FIFA.