Retired Referee Alex Quartey Jabs Ghanaian Sports Journalists : Retired Ghanaian soccer referee Alex Quartey has urged Ghanaian sports journalists , especially commentators , to make efforts to learn the laws of the game very well in order not to misinform their audience.
Quartey , a former chairman of the Referees Association of Ghana , voted Ghana’s Best Referee of the Season five times , admits the level of coaching and quality of refereeing in the Ghana Premier League and other competitions in the country has gone down but he is quick to mention other areas that need improvements too.
“Yes it is true that officiating needs to be improved in the country but let me tell you that most of the times , it is the journalists who misinform the public because about 95 % percent of them know nothing about the laws of the game.” , Alex Quartey said on Kumasi-based Fox FM on Thursday.
“The negative outcome of this is that , when a referee makes a decision and because the commentators and journalists themselves are not abreast with the laws , they say whatever to confuse the audience. Some of them do say , that it is the referee who studied his refereeing course but what is your opinion or knowledge of the laws as a journalist. You need to know so that when a referee makes a decision , you are better equipped to understand the decision so that you will not confuse the public.” , the former referee added.
“I always say that good name is better than riches. As a referee you must stand firm not to be bribed or manipulated by the big men in the game. I personally was confronted by team officials and founders of clubs plenty times during my time as a referee for me to manipulate matches but I always resisted them.”
Quartey also spoke about increasing number of Ghanaian players who fail to perform outside Ghana.
“Always you mention referees , that we don’t perform well. You mention coaches , coaches but look at the players too , they cannot play when they leave the country. They leave and after few months they come back to the Ghana league again”.
The Ghana Football Association President , Kurt Okraku , announced at the 29th Ordinary Congress of the association in Kumasi on Monday July 10th that Ghana Premier League referees will now be paid weekly and Quartey has lauded the initiative.
“I think this is great. It will help the referee a lot. I mean referees face too many problems when they travel to handle matches , they don’t have hotel , because they don’t have the money for hotel and so if they will now be paid every week , I think it is a fantastic news.” , he reacted.
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