Performance of Ghanaian referees has once again come under scrutiny after the GFA’s Disciplinary Committee decided to ban referee Reginald Lathbridge for life.

Lathbridge is the referee whose mistake of wrongfully recording a booking resulted in Great Olympics’ court case with the GFA, a move that delayed the start of the league for weeks.

Referee Reginald Lathbridge at his hearing at the Disciplinary Committee apologised to all stakeholders of the game and admitted the charge of failing to submit a complete and accurate Match Report to the GFA on Match day 7 of the 2016/2017 Ghana Premier League match played between Bechem United FC and Elmina Sharks FC at Bechem brought the game into disrepute.

The ban prevents him from taking part in any football related activities at both national and international levels having been found guilty of the charges brought against him by the GFA.

This matter won’t die down anytime soon, aside the myriad of problems the local league is facing, officiating has been a real headache for club officials.

This has once again raised concerns about the kind of referees in the country. Their competence has also been called into question with some calling on the Referees Association of Ghana to see to it that they scrutinize actions of their members before and after officiating games.

Referee David Laryea, a man who knows the terrain very well, has lamented about the development, told TV3 Sports the GFA’s decision to ban Reginald Lathbridge for life is a purely administrative error, but nothing to do with competence on the field.

“It is based on the GFA’s regulations, with the offence and Article they quoted I won’t be able to say whether the decision is fair or not. If he thinks based on the Article the decision is not fair, he can appeal.”

He stated, “Performance wise we are doing well, with this CAF club competitions two of our teams went for the prelims, one in Burkina Faso and one in Ivory Coast. So Ghanaian referees we are doing better on the continent so this shouldn’t be related to our performance.”