Ghana FA drags American referee Ismail Elfath to FIFA

The Ghanaian football governing body, GFA has dragged American referee Ismail Elfath to FIFA for poor officiating in their game against Portugal

The Ghana Football Association is demanding sanctions to be taken against the disgraceful decision which has mocked the much touted VAR and thrown technology into the dustbin.

The Major Soccer League referee has come under mounting criticism after he awarded a suspicious penalty against the Black Stars at the 974 Stadium in Doha which was converted by clubless Cristiano Ronaldo.

The referee refused to have a second look on the VAR monitor and judged Mohammed Salisu’s challenge on Cristiano Ronaldo as a foul.

However, television replays have shown the referee got it wrong and that decision should never have stood with top English referee Mike Dean stating Ghana were “cheated”. He also said it’s scary that the referee wasn’t asked to go take a second look at the Salisu incident on the VAR screen.”

Cristiano Ronaldo’s suspicious penalty gave Portugal the lead in the 65th minute.

Ghana equalised against the run of play when Andre Ayew, their own veteran striker, fired home from close range (73), but Portugal immediately responded with quickfire goals from Joao Felix (78) and substitute Rafael Leao (80), both set up by Bruno Fernandes.

Portugal had to survive a nervy finale after Osman Bukari headed home Ghana’s second goal (89) with Inaki Williams failing to score a late minutes equalizer.

He almost shocked Portugal with a dramatic late equaliser in a heart-stopping moment which left Cristiano Ronaldo stunned.