The official who stood in as referee for the football match between Ghana and Portugal, Ismail Elfath has delivered an expression of remorse for awarding Christiano Ronaldo a questionable penalty.
On 24th of November, 2022, Ghana Black Stars locked horns in a tough football game with the Portuguese in the continuous 2022 FIFA World Cup competition, in which a crucial penalty was awarded to the Portuguese side, led by their captain, Cristiano Ronaldo.
A ton of Ghanaians thrashed the referee over his decision not to consult the VAR before finalizing his judgement on the call for penalty. One specific personality in question who hauled the referee for his unwarranted decision, was sports journalist Saddick Adams, who described Ismail Elfath as an apology of a referee and entreated FIFA to punish the referee for his action.
In a report spotted on Ghanafeed.com, sports writer Saddick Adams, Ghanaian Dr. Joe K, previously of Prempeh School, met with the controversial official in Qatar.
In response to the public eruption and fury, Ismail Elfath remained certain that he awarded Christiano Ronaldo the penalty in light of what he saw in the flash of the moment on the field.
He underlined that it was a penalty, and he would have been corrected in any case by the VAR system, on the off chance his judgement wasn’t sound and logical, as was not the situation in that instance.
He anyway reacted surprised over the kickback he got from various social media users, stating that he has likewise observed the opposite remarks communicated by famous referees and savants.
Ismail Elfath emphasized that he adores Ghana and has nothing against Ghana as revealed, because he used to play football with Ghanaians.