The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has handed out permanent bans to 8 Ghanaian referees who were mentioned in the Anas Aremeyaw Anas documentary on corruption in Ghana and West Africa.
CAF’s punishment to these referees was determined after a meeting of its Disciplinary Board on August 5.
In July, CAF handed provisional suspensions to the listed referees as it sought to investigate the allegations of bribery further to decide on the next line of action.
Of the 11 referees, 8 have now been given the permanent bans.
7 of the referees- Reginald Lathbridge, Nantierre Eric, Fleischer Cecil, Ouedraogo Dawood, Salifu Malik, Akongyam Theresa and Wellington Joseph– have been given 10-year bans from all CAF-related activities.
David Laryea was given a lifetime ban from CAF-related activities.
How did we get here?
Anas and his Tiger Eye PI team, in an investigative piece which took two years to put together, exposed corruption in African football where some top referees in Africa and other sports officials were caught on video allegedly receiving “bribes” to tamper with outcomes of matches.
Anas subsequently petitioned FIFA, CAF and other football regulating bodies to sanction such officials.
The topmost official to have been affected by the video is Ghana’s FA President Kwesi Nyantakyi who has since resigned his position.
He has also lost his position at both Fifa and CAF as he continues to serve a 90-day ban by Fifa.
Some of the affected officials of the GFA including Mr. Nyantakyi and the FA’s Communications Director, Saanie Daara, are however fighting Anas in court.
Reginald Lathbridge- repeat offender?
The 10-year ban for Lathbridge adds to the lifetime ban he received from the Ghana Football Association in March 2018.
He was punished by the Ghana Football Association for failing to submit a complete ans accurate match report during the 2017 Ghana Premier League season.
The report was in relation to match involving Elmina Sharks and Bechem United. In the report, he failed to properly report on a booking he had given in the match and that led to some confusion at the end of the season which hampered the start of the 2018 Ghana Premier League season.
Who are some of these referees?
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By: Citi Sports
