Goldfields calls for circumspect in selection of referees

The Obuasi Goldfields Sporting Club has called on the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and the Referees Appointment Committee to be circumspect in the selection of referees for the on-going premier league competition.

The call is necessitated by the hell the management of the club, led by the Operations Manager, Mr E.K. Oteng-Aboagye and the security agencies led by the District Stadium Security Co-ordinator, D.S.P. Gyinae, went through before being able to whisk the match officials of their mid-week encounter against Power F/C from the Len Clay Stadium.

The club said referee Benedicta Wormade and her assistants, all from Hohoe, were held hostage at the stadium for well over two hours after the match had ended. It said the biased officiating by Benedicta, with the view to assisting the visitors to win the match, did not go down well with the supporters who charged on her after the match resulting in her hostage.

The club's management said it later learnt that the referee is related to one of the executives of the visiting Power F/C. "We want to appeal to the GFA and Referees Appointment Committee to ensure that referees who have relations with clubs and those who are prone to monetary and other influences are not appointed for the rest of the premier league matches."

It said the Len Clay Stadium is not noted for rioting and it is therefore incumbent on the GFA, the referees and all other stakeholders in the sports to ensure that nothing is done to erase that uniqueness of the stadium. "Management deeply expresses dissatisfaction about the poor performance of referee Benedicta Wormade but at the same time wish to appeal to supporters to exercise restrain in the face of such open bias officiating against their idol club." The club assured match officials of their safety at the Len Clay Stadium but wished that such safety should not be abused by the referees.