Ghana wins protest

Accra, Feb 22, GNA - The Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) has declared Ghana winners of the first leg Olympic Qualifier against Burkina Faso.

Ghana has thus been awarded a three goal advantage with the second leg fixed for the Sunyani Coronation Park on March 25. The GNA Sports gathered from sources at the GFA that FIFA has since communicated their decision to the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and their Burkinabe counterparts.


The Burkinabes were declared losers of the game for fielding two over-aged players in the first leg match played in Ouagadougou about three weeks ago.


The affected Burkinabe players are skipper Saidou Mabi Panawdetiguiri and Fousseni Traore.

It was found through the passports of the two that they were born in March and July 1984 contrary to the rules and regulation governing the competition, which states that players must be born on or after January 1, 1985.


FIFA bars players who are more than 23 years of age from participating in the preliminaries of the competition. Ghana is now better placed to qualify for the next stage of the competition as the second leg could be more of an academic exercise. Ghana lost the first leg 2-0.