We are sometimes hypnotized by juju – Ghanaian referee

Ghanaian referee Maxwell Hanson says the lack of appreciation for the rules that govern football makes refereeing difficult in the country.

Maxwell Hanson remarked in an interview with Television CK that referees find it extremely difficult to officiate matches due to the hardships they encounter, before, during and after football games.

He stated that ill-educated fans usually attack referees because they do not fully appreciate the football rules.

Revealing his experience during matches, the Tema-based centreman said that referees are sometimes hypnotized by some clubs to handle matches in their favour.

He indicated that while some errors made in games are genuine, some are influenced by voodoo.

Maxwell Hanson professed that sometimes after matches, referees get gobsmacked by some decisions they take. He defended the integrity of referees in the face of perceptions of incompetence and corruption. “No referee goes into a match with the intention to cheat. I have never seen a referee take a bribe neither have I seen an administrator paying bribe to a referee. We are not thieves as people think, we just apply the rules”.

“Football in Ghana is not easy. If you are not physically, spiritually and mentally strong don’t try. There are times you feel very heavy as a referee. Sometimes you take some infringement that due to the positioning you don’t see it well”.

“Some penalties and infringements we take are not because of bribes, we are sometimes influenced by some spiritual things. Sometimes you asses your own performance and you realize you are not in charge”.

In the post-Number 12 era, Maxwell Hanson was appointed as the centreman for the first Super2 clash.

Here, he shares his experience in the game which was the second time he handled a game between the two big teams.

“It’s a record that my grand children will be proud of. I wasn’t under pressure. I was gingered by the crowd and it encouraged me. I was happy when I first officiated a Hearts vs Kotoko game. It was a dream come true for me because it’s one of the things I set out to achieve when I decided to be a referee”.