2018 World Cup qualifying match should be repeated as referee manipulating the game

News24xx.com - FIFA ordered South Africa versus Senegal match in the World Cup qualifying African zone 2018 has to be repeated. This relates to the life sentence that was meted out to the referee who led that game.

Ghanaian referee, Joseph Lamptey, punished heavily for controversial decisions on the related game South Africa vs. Senegal, 12 November 2016. In a match that was won by South Africa with 2-1, Lamptey awarding South Africa with a penalty over Kalidou Koulibaly hands ball. But, the replay showed that the ball was actually hit Koulibaly knee.

FIFA considers Lamptey has been manipulating the game. FIFA forbids him to engage in all activities relating to football, both national and international levels, all of his life. The penalty corroborated by Lamptey over Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) verdict recently.

As a follow-up, FIFA ordered that the match South Africa vs Senegal must be repeated. The replay match will take place in November. "The match will be repeated on the international gap in November 2017, with the exact date will be announced in due course," wrote FIFA in a statement quoted Reuters.

"As stated in the rules of the World Cup, this decision would apply immediately, but wait for confirmation from the organizers of FIFA competition at the next meeting, which is scheduled on September 14th."

Senegal and South Africa respectively occupy the third and fourth position in Group D standings on African zone 2018 World Cup qualifying. Both teams are under Burkina Faso and Cape Verde. Just the champion of each group will qualify to the final round.