Ghanaian football-loving fans were thrown into a state of shock when center referee Ismail Elfath awarded a penalty to Portugal against a run of play.
connoisseurs of the game have given various opinions on the said penalty, Sompa 93.1 Fm pundit and former Ghana referees association chairman, JK Maanu have questioned the credibility of the penalty.
Analyzing the game after the final whistle, he explained that it’s difficult to accept the penalty given that the referee could have called for video assistance referee (VAR) intervention.
Salisu foul on Ronaldo
What happened: Portugal was awarded a penalty in the 62nd minute when the center referee believed Cristiano Ronaldo was knocked over by Mohammed Salisu.
The referee believes that Ronaldo got to the ball first ahead of Salisu before there was contact on the Portugal striker’s boot and upper body but the Ghanaian referee thinks otherwise, saying, there was no contact and that Ronaldo should have been penalized for simulation instead of awarding him a penalty.
“It’s a shame, from where I sit, maybe I need replays from different angles to confirm there was contact, even that the closeness of the situation needed a VAR assistance, why didn’t he go for it, he asked.
If Salisu had got to the ball first before Ronaldo this would have been grounds for a full review, in this instance, you hardly can pinpoint so he needs to have consulted the VAR, but unfortunately for Ghana, the referee failed to do so and I don’t know why he refused to go to the VAR.
Ronaldo also thought he had scored in the 31st minute, but the referee had already blown a foul against him for a push on Alexander Djiku.
The VAR is unable to review anything after the referee’s whistle, so he cannot look back at the foul to award the goal.
Your thoughts may not be different from mine however referee JK Maanu believes it was too soft and not a penalty.
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