The Match Review panel of the Ghana Football Association has cleared referee Eric Owusu Prempeh after allegations made against him by Elmina Sharks.

Elmina Sharks reported the referee for what they claim as ‘unfair’ and ‘wrong’ decisions taken against them in a premier league match versus Medeama SC by referee Owusu Prempeh.

The Elmina based Premier League outfit complained that in the 16th minute of the match, a ball touched the hand of a Medeama SC player of the visiting team in the penalty area but Referee Eric Owusu Prempeh ignored the penalty although he was standing very close to the incident.

Sharks also added that in the 40th minute, the referee ignored a penalty after the ball hit the hand of a Medeama player in the penalty area.

The Club also complained series of serious fouls were committed between the 75th and 80th minutes of the game that should have gone against the away team. According to the complaint, in one incident the referee reached his pocket to show a card to a Medeama player for a reckless tackle but later changed his mind when he realized that the player has already received a yellow card and a second, would result in a red card.

After reviewing footages made available and studying the complaints, the GFA Match Review Panel found that the first incident could not be deemed to be a foul.

It also found that the second incident was a shot at goal which hit the body of the defender before touching the hand of the opposing player. With regards to the incidents between the 75th and 80th minute, the panel did not observe any clear incident as claimed by the complainant.

According to the Panel, the first penalty which the referee did not give was a good decision as well as the second incident. The Panel agreed that in both hand ball incidents referee Eric Owusu Prempeh was right in his decisions and showed clear application of the law.