Ghana league players debate refereeing on Facebook

Mighty Jets’ captain Winfred Dormon and Aduana Stars’ Gabby Opoku Ware exchanged opinions on Facebook following contentious decisions by ref Pat Kyeremateng in Sunday’s league match.

Jets lost 1-0 to Aduana Stars in Dormaa on Sunday following a penalty winner by Godfred Saka after seven minutes of added time were added. The victim of the decision was Winfred Dormon, who vented his spleen on his page after the game. The texts are not edited.

“My heart bleeds for Ghana football. How on earth did ref Kyeremanteng from kumasi play 7 minutes of added time, give Aduana Stars a ridiculous penalty and a shocking red card 2 me? Yes, the review committee may try to reprimand him but can that change the results?

“If referees decide to give games to teams on a silver platter, are we moving the game forward in the right and positive direction? I leave Kyeremanteng to his conscience. The sickening thing i heard is that, he's a man of God. Lord have mercy! I feel damn. Kudos to Mighty Jets for a spirited performance. I would definitely bounce back in style.” [sic]

The response

Aduana Stars defender Gabriel Opoku Ware, who has a lot of experience in the local game, defended the referee’s call and called on Dormon to be honest. The text is unedited.

“My brother please tell the public the truth. I could count as many as 19 times when the referee had to stop the game because you players deliberately sit on the field for attention. It was a clean penalty. Please be honest my dear. Anyway safe journey” [sic]

Dormon responded by chiding the Aduana player, asking him to let Ghana’s football be the winner.

“Gab, I'm not surprised by your comment because you and the referee were on d same page. After all you won. But you know deep down in your heart. We leave in a smal world. You have now become a PR officer for the referee. It’s Ghana football which must be the winner and not Aduana Stars, nor any club. You won but you couldn’t celebrate. Think about it.” [sic]

Social networks and sport Psychologists have mentioned that social networking allows sports people to “bask in reflected glory and pain”, in other words, to celebrate successes and grieve about failure. But the debate is whether there should be a line for what they can say, since what Dormon wrote about could amount to a call from the Ghana FA’s Disciplinary Committee to explain himself. Should social networking be regulated among Ghana Premier League players and officials?