Ghanaian referees snubbed by FIFA

Ghanaian referees have been left out of selected match officials for the journey to the 2014 FIFA World Cup billed for Brazil.

Twenty-one match officials comprising seven referees plus 14 assistants have been penciled in the continent’s prospective list put together by the world football governing body, FIFA.

The news will come as bitter pill for Ghanaian ‘knights of the whistle’ after being overlooked for the Africa Cup of Nations, where only assistants Abdul Salif Malik and David Laryea made the cut.

GNA Sports can confirm that Tunisia and Senegal have a set each (a referee and two assistants), with the rest emerging from Gambia, Cote d’Ivoire, Algeria, Morocco, Burundi, Rwanda, Eritrea, Nigeria and South Africa.

The list is dominated by match officials who participated at the recent Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa including controversial Tunisian Slim Jedidi, whose performance in the Ghana – Burkina Faso semi final match headlined the lowest moment of the tournament.

There is also a surprise place for South African Daniel Bennett, who came under scrutiny for his interpretations of the rules during the Togo-Tunisia Group D clash at the same tournament.

Algerian Haimoudi Djamel, decorated as the best referee on the continent by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) last year also made the cut; so are Ivorian Doue Noumandiez, Diatta Badara of Senegal, Cameroonian Alioum Neant and Papa Bakary Gassama of Gambia.

According to FIFA, the prospective match officials will take part in a seminar from 27-30 April in Casablanca, Morocco as part of the process to trim the list.

The seminar will focus on areas including protecting players and the image of the game, fair play, guarantee of decisional consistency and uniformity, reading the game (technical/tactical approach) and understanding different football mentalities (knowledge of teams).