Assistant Referees Manager for Eastern Regional Football Association, Solomon Yamoah, has said he regrets not accepting a $50,000 bribe offered him in Sierra Leone when he refereed.
According to the retired FIFA referee, he was appointed by CAF to officiate an Afcon qualifier between Sierra Leone and Congo.
He revealed that a night before the game, he and his assistants were approached by some men who offered to give them $50,000 to officiate in favour of the host team.
Mr Yamoah said he refused to accept the offer.
“The amount was so huge in those days but we told them that Ghanaian referees don’t take a bribe,” he told Asempa FM in an exclusive interview.
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“The Sierra Leoneans were so focused on winning through any means possible,” he added.
Mr Yamoah said sometimes he regrets not accepting the bribery offers that came his way as a referee because he would have been a better person financially since refereeing during their era was not lucrative.
He said he would have ended his career immediately if he had taken that amount and start a new life outside football but he was passionate about the game and much concerned with his name that will appear in the newspapers than money, the reason he couldn’t make money from his refereeing career.
Meanwhile, he said he feels proud for being so strict and sticking to his principles which are giving him a livelihood in his old age.