Sports minister defends 'bias' Togolese ref who denied Ghana

Ghana's sports minister Nii Lantey Vanderpujye has shockingly jumped to the defence of the Togolese referee who denied the Black Satellites several penalty calls, leading to the country's elimination at the hands of Senegal.

The government official looks to be taking his stand-off with the Ghana FA to extreme lengths by hailing the Togolese match official despite the obvious bias against his own country.

The actions of referee Koussi Attiso Attiorgbe has been widely blamed and condemned for the Black Satellites 3-2 aggregate defeat to Senegal which ensured Ghana won't qualify for the Africa Youth Championship and U20 World Cup.

Ghana had two clear penalties calls with a Senegal defender handling the ball in the box while a brutal attack on Satellites striker Dauda Mohammed were also ignored by the referee.

With the Ghana FA among those to receive the credit for the country's qualification, Vanderpuye looks to rather justify the actions of the referee to spite the federation.

“I don’t agree with people who are saying the referee was bias. Although some of his calls were questionable I think he was fair.” he told Country Man Songo on Adom TV’s Fire for Fire.

The minister and the Ghana FA have been engaged in a tussle over the control of the national teams with the federation insisting his actions and pronouncement are calculated to sabotage the game in the country.

Vanderpuye was part of a cabal set up to overthrow the GFA leadership in 2010 and his recent appointment to the ministry has been widely viewed as the move to actualize his long held ambition.

The national under 20 side of Ghana, needed two unanswered goals at home against the Young Lions of Senegal to qualify for the competition proper after suffering a 3-1 defeat in the first leg.

Unfortunately, the Black Satellites managed to win 1-0 at the Cape Coast stadium on Friday leading to their exit.

Senegal who kicked Ghana out will now join Guinea, Mali, Sudan, Egypt, South Africa, Cameroon and host country Zambia for the competition next year.

The final tournament is scheduled for 26 February to 12 March 2017, where the semi-finalists will represent Africa at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Korea Republic next May.