Ghanaian Referee Reginald Lathbridge Banned For Life

Ghanaian referee Reginald Lathbridge has been banned for life.

The decision to ban the Ghana Premier League referee for life was reached by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) Disciplinary Committee.

Lathbridge was handed the verdict after his mistake led to a lengthy legal battle between the GFA and Great Olympics.

He made the mistake while he was in charge of the 2016/2017 Ghana Premier League Matchday 7 clash between hosts Bechem United FC and Elmina Sharks FC.

Referee Lathbridge reportedly booked Solomon Mensah, however, he went on to record Joseph Amoah as the recipient of the yellow card.

Bechem United thereafter denied that a yellow was handed to Amoah prompting the GFA to contact Lathridge.

The referee eventually wrote to the GFA Disciplinary Committee to change the decision after seven months and has now paid for the costly mistake with a life ban from everything related to football.

He is the second Ghanaian referee to be banned for life within two years after FIFA’s decision to hand a life ban to Joseph Lamptey.

Lamptey was banned for manipulating the outcome of the 2018 World Cup qualifier between South Africa and Senegal in November 2016.

The initial match which South Africa won by 2-1 was cancelled before the Teranga Lions of Senegal won the replay ordered by FIFA 2-0 to qualify for this summer’s FIFA World Cup in Russia.

FULL STATEMENT FROM GFA:

This Disciplinary Committee has decided to ban Referee Reginald Lathbridge is for life from taking part from all football related activities (administrative, sports and any other) at national and international levels having been found guilty of the charges brought against him by the GFA Prosecutor.

Referee Reginald Lathbridge at his hearing at the Disciplinary Committee apologised to all stakeholders of the game and admitted the charge of failing to submit a complete and accurate Match Report to the GFA in the Matchday 7 of the 2016/2017 Ghana Premier League match played between Bechem United FC and Elmina Sharks FC at Bechem thereby bringing the game into disrepute.
Referee Reginald Lathbridge’s actions are held to have been in violation of Articles 22 and 35(7)(d) in the GFA General Regulations and other regulations in respect of this matter.

The Disciplinary Committee states that the importance of the Match Official’s Reports in football cannot be overemphasised in view of Article 85 of the GFA Disciplinary Code which presumes that the Referee’s Report is accurate and considered authoritative regarding matters on incidents that take place on the field of play and the far-reaching consequences any inaccuracy may lead to.

Full written Decision of the Disciplinary Committee to be delivered to parties.