Former FIFA Referee, Alex Quartey says the penalty decision awarded to Asante Kotoko in their game against Hearts of Oak in the Super Clash game on Sunday was not a right call made by the referee.
According to him, the circumstance leading to the penalty does not correspond to what the law says.
Asante Kotoko were awarded a last minute penalty by referee Emmanuel Eshun when a strike from Matthew Cudjoe struck the hand of Hearts defender Mohammed Alhassan leading to the penalty.
The retired referee explained that if the ball came off the head of the defender and struck his hand then it wasn’t supposed to be a foul.
“The interpretation of the hand ball is very crucial. Not all hand balls are offences”, he told Happy 98.9FM.
“We have to educate the ones which are offences and the others which are not. If the ball touches the player’s hand directly from his own head or foot then it’s not a penalty”.
“The law says when you stretch your hand vertically or horizontally and the ball hits your hand directly then it’s a foul, but in this instance the Kotoko player played the ball and it hit his leg before it came off his hand so it wasn’t a foul”.
“I will not falter the referee for that decision. It was a split decision and he had to take one. From the laws, if it was not direct then it’s not a penalty”, he added.
Asante Kotoko needed that penalty to beat their sworn rivals by 2-1 on Sunday in match day six of the 2019/20 Ghana Premier League.