Ghana wins protest
Accra, Feb 22, GNA – The Federation of International
Football Association (FIFA) has declared Ghana winners of
the first leg Olympic Qualifier against Burkina Faso.
Ghana has thus been awarded a three goal advantage with the
second leg fixed for the Sunyani Coronation Park on March
25.
The GNA Sports gathered from sources at the GFA that FIFA
has since communicated their decision to the Ghana Football
Association (GFA) and their Burkinabe counterparts.
The Burkinabes were declared losers of the game for fielding
two over-aged players in the first leg match played in
Ouagadougou about three weeks ago.
The affected Burkinabe players are skipper Saidou Mabi
Panawdetiguiri and Fousseni Traore.
It was found through the passports of the two that they were
born in March and July 1984 contrary to the rules and
regulation governing the competition, which states that
players must be born on or after January 1, 1985.
FIFA bars players who are more than 23 years of age from
participating in the preliminaries of the competition.
Ghana is now better placed to qualify for the next stage of
the competition as the second leg could be more of an
academic exercise.
Ghana lost the first leg 2-0.
GNA
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