Retired referee and National Vice Chairman of Referees Association of Ghana, Joe Debrah believes Joseph Lamptey is still Ghana’s number one referee.
The experienced referee has been banned for life according to the Ethics Committee of the world governing body, FIFA.
According to FIFA, Joseph Lamptey was found guilty of breaching article 69 paragraph 1 (unlawfully influencing match results) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match between South Africa and Senegal on November 12, 2016.
Despite the decision taken by FIFA, referee Joe Debrah still believes Joseph Lamptey is still Ghana’s best referee.
“FIFA’s ruling on Joseph Lamptey is one of the saddest day in my life,” he told Asempa FM.
“He [Joseph Lamptey] is somebody that likes to listen to advise when he goes wrong. He is an immigration officer and I have known him for long time and he is not that bossy person when he goes wrong.
“I don’t want to say that FIFA had it wrong because it is too early for us to say that and I am not ready to commit myself to defend what he did during the match because a lot of things went to this decision and not only the penalty decision.
“For me he is our number one referee we have in Ghana and we the referee’s will support him in this difficult time but what I am seeing is that Ghanaian referees are in trial.
“We shouldn’t go back and list his bad records because it will hurt the person and besides he has good records as well but I know his ban is a disgraced the country but let know how to approach this issue,” he added.