The Ghana Football Association  has responded to the South Africa Football Association’s protest which was forwarded to the them on November 17,2021.

The South African Football Association had accused Ghana of match manipulation, match-fixing, corruption and bribery following the Black stars 1-0 win in the Group G final matchday tie against Bafana Bafana to reach the next round of the qualifiers.

A decisive goal from the penalty spot scored by skipper Andre Ayew  after Daniel Amartey went down in the box under the challenge of Rushine De Reuck sealed a spot into the next stage of the FIFA World cup qualifying round.

The aftermath of the game has seen nothing but accusations and counter-accusations from the two nations, as South Africa alleged that the match may have been fixed to aid Ghana’s qualification, particularly singling out the penalty call by Senegalese referee Maguette N’Diaye.

In the response to Fifa signed by GFA general secretary Prosper Harrison Addo, the West Africans are calling for the protest to be rejected on multiple grounds, including South Africa’s “improper” lodging of an initial oral protest to the match commissioner, which “violates the provisions of the regulations for the competition and the Disciplinary Code of Fifa”, which stipulates that any such complaint be lodged “in writing” and “within two hours”.

Again, the GFA emphasized that “a full written report, including copies of the original protest, be sent by email to the Fifa general secretary within 24 hours of the end of the match”, another provision which was violated by the complainants.

The GFA goes on to state that South Africa’s protest should have been accompanied by a protest fee, as stated by regulations, but that was not the case, as the protest letter to Fifa stated that the protest fee would be paid later, thus rendering the appeal “void and a nullity”.

Furthermore, Ghana believes that South Africa sent “the respected Fifa Disciplinary Committee on a fool’s errand or fishing” by only making allegations without claims by their initial protest letter to Fifa, and requests that the latter be punished “severely”.

Last but not least, the GFA holds the opinion that South Africa has cast “fake doubts on the integrity of the World Cup brand and the Black Stars” and behaviour which deserved “severe fine and cost”.