Ex-South African referee Andile Ncobo report shows 90.9% incorrect decisions went against Bafana in Ghana World Cup qualifier

Former international referee Andile “Ace” Ncobo has assessed performance of the Senegalese referee Ndiaye Maguette who handled the World Cup qualifier against the Black Stars of Ghana and South Africa.

The South African Football Association (SAFA) lodged a complaint on Monday against match officials for what they describe as “robbery” and “unfair” officiating.

According to SAFA, they have gathered enough information to back their suspicion of a fixed game.

Senegalese referee Ndiaye Maguette is at the center of all the controversy after awarding the Black Stars a penalty, which led to the game’s only goal.

Footballghana.com understands hearing of the South Africa protest against Ghana will be out on Tuesday, November 23, 2021.

SAFA on Wednesday held a press conference to update their appeal with FIFA.

At the presser, the retired referee gave a devastating report on the officiating of referee Maguette N’diaye and his assistants, a report he says proves a definite pattern of extreme bias in the World Cup qualifier between Bafana Bafana and Ghana last Sunday.

According to his report, 90.9% of the incorrect decisions went against the Bafana Bafana during the decisive clash which proves the game was “unlawfully manipulated” and is of the view the game must be declared null and void.

“This submission is about the firm suspicion, maybe even conviction now that the report is there, that the match was unlawfully manipulated,” he said.

He said: “The moment Fifa decides that person needs to be sanctioned because there is verifiable proof they unlawfully influenced or manipulated the match, then it goes without saying that the result becomes null and void.”

“We disregarded minor incidents such as ball out of play for a throw-in … We looked at only major incidents, and there were 71 in total. The bulk of those were in the first half.

“We then looked at, of the 71, how many the referee blew for, [before] the stage where we look at what the decision was, who it was in favour of and the correctness or otherwise.

“Of this 71, there were 21 incidents where there was no flag or whistle. They were either ignored or not seen. Those count as incorrect decisions.

“ … And out of the 71, 47 were awarded. Still at this stage we have not made a judgment on the correctness or otherwise of the decisions that were taken.

“The number of correct decisions was 37 out of 71, which gives you an overall assessment of the referee and his team of 52.1% [correct].

“Go to any country and ask what fellow referees say to a referee who has received 60 or 65% — they will tell him he was poor in that match

“The number of incorrect decisions is 33 out of 71. Still we are talking about incompetence — we haven’t touched on bias.

“ … When you look at the split of incorrect decisions between the teams, theoretically if it’s a poor day at the office for the ref it should still be 50/50.

“It’s impossible to get an exactly 50/50 split, so even 45/55 is still not regarded as bias. Even 60/40 would be regarded as slight bias, and you can’t be holding press conferences and writing to Fifa about it. It is only when you reach your 70/30s that you start looking at an extreme bias.

“ … Of the 33 incorrect decisions, 30 went against SA, which accounts for 90.9% of incorrect decisions that I have no fear of anyone looking at the match and at this report and saying, ‘No, the referee was right where you said he was wrong’.”

Further, Ncobo said he found that in the first half N’diaye got only 37.8% (17 out of 45) decisions correct, and in the second 76.9%, which “reminds us why this ref is on the international panel … because he has the ability to reach that kind of performance”.

“At least one who I know is a super-apologist for referees”. He said that particular ex-referee came back with a lower figure than 90.9% incorrect decisions, but only reduced to 89.7%.

Ncobo said in his seven hours, 20 minutes reviewing the footage, “I spent five hours, 17 minutes reviewing the first half … but it took me two hours, 13 minutes to review the second half, because most of the time I was just watching football and the referee giving good decisions”.

South Africa are hoping for a replay of the crucial match after they lost 1-0 amid a controversial decision by Senegalese referee Ndiaye Maguette.

The official awarded Ghana a penalty after Leicester City defender Daniel Amartey was impeded in the South African box in the first half.

Ayew stepped up and scored to take Black Stars through, much to the dismay of Bafana Bafana who needed just a point to qualify.