FIFA bans ref after link to game fixing

A Fédération Internationale de Football Association investigation linked a referee accused of match-fixing a World Cup soccer qualifier in 2016 to “numerous publicly documented scandals” in the previous six years.

FIFA investigators said Joseph Lamptey of Ghana had “a history of being suspended for poor performances” before being banned for life and typically awarded more penalties than other African referees of his grade.

A common match-fixing tactic is for referees to award penalty kicks after non-existent fouls or handball incidents to help betting syndicates cash in bets on the number of goals scored.

“This conduct — and its repeated occurrence — establishes a clear and consistent pattern behaviour for matches refereed by Mr. Lamptey,” investigators wrote in a document published by FIFA on Monday.

Still, Lamptey remained eligible for World Cup qualifying duty on FIFA’s international list requiring annual approval, and also by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and Ghana’s soccer federation.

FIFA did not immediately respond to questions about how Lamptey came to be selected for the South Africa-Senegal qualifier in November 2016.

Portugal’s 2-2 draw in Gabon in a 2012 friendly, which included three penalties scored, was among six games identified as suspicious that Lamptey handled before the game that ended his career.

His decisions in South Africa’s 2-1 win — helping the home team score twice late in the first half — led FIFA to ban him for life and order a replay.

Lamptey’s history is detailed in evidence to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, whose detailed verdict to explain why it dismissed his appeal last August has now been published by FIFA.

“This CAS decision underlines FIFA’s commitment to protecting the integrity of football and its zerotolerance policy on match manipulation,” FIFA said in a statement.

However, suspicions about Lamptey’s conduct dated back to African club matches organized by CAF in 2010.