Faisal blames unimpressive campaign on poor officiating

Accra, July 2, GNA - Kumasi King Faisal has attributed their inability to finish amongst the top four clubs of the 2007/2008 Onetouch Premier League season to bias officiating.

Faisal has been a familiar face amongst the top four finishers for the past four seasons but Samson Deen, Marketing Manager of the Club insists unfair officiating did them the most harm this season. Mr Deen told GNA Sports on Wednesday the performance of most referees during their matches was pivotal in their inconsistency this season.

With just a game to end the season, the Marketing Manager mentioned particularly referee W.L. Quaye as one of the many match officials whose performance had a negative influence on their output. With reference to their 29th Week clash against Kessben FC at Abrankese last week, Mr Deen described the performance of Class One referee Quaye as shameful and horrendous, as well as an indictment on the reputation of match officials.

"He exhibited sheer bias against Faisal throughout the match, which crystallized his intentions to frustrate us. "He also thwarted all our efforts at goal, refused a legitimate goal in addition to six yellow cards to Faisal players." Mr Deen recounted how the same referee Quaye displayed a similar output during their Week 26 clash against visiting Kpando Heart of Lions, which ended 2-2 at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi. He mentioned the likes of FIFA referee Mercy Tagoe and Charles Nii Nyarko who handled their games against Hearts of Oak (Week 27) and Tema Youth (Week 28), as other officials who displayed sheer bias at King Faisal in the said games.

The Marketing Manager has therefore appealed to the Referees Association of Ghana (RAG) to select "competent" match officials for their ultimate match of the season against Liberty Professionals on Sunday in Kumasi.

Faisal occupy the seventh position on 38 points and will still finish outside the top four should they win their final game.