Ghana express trust in Afcon officiating

Concerns about officiating at the African Cup of Nations 2015 are not worrying the Ghana team ahead of meeting the host nation.

There has been heavy criticism of the Confederation of African Football following the awarding of penalty by Seechurn Rajindraprasad from Mauritius in the quarterfinals.

With Equatorial Guinea staring an exit at the weekend against Tunisia, a late penalty was awarded following a soft fall by an Equatorial Guinea striker.

The hosts scored, and with momentum on their side, went on to seal victory with another goal in extra time.

“I want to believe everything outside the pitch is good. I want to believe that apart from one or two games the refereeing has been good so I believe that everything will go well,” the Israeli said about fears of biased officiating when the Black Stars face the Nzalang Nationale on Thursday.

The Ghana boss says keeping his eye on the ball will be more beneficial than fretting about officiating.

“It will not be easy because every team that has qualified for the semi-finals is favourite. I want to focus on my team.”

NYANTAKYI WEIGHS IN

At a press briefing on Tuesday, the Ghana FA president touched on the worries of fans who feel the host nation are capable of unduly influencing officials to do their will.

“In every tournament at even the highest level we have episodes of poor refereeing. The officials chosen for our semifinal are some f the highest ranked in Africa and I have utmost confidence that they will have a good game,” said Kwesi Nyantakyi.

The Black Stars are looking to finally go past the semifinal this time after four straight times of crashing out at this stage.

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