2027 AFCONQ: Fatawu Issahaku questions penalty decision in Ghana defeat to Ivory Coast
Ghana winger Abdul Fatawu Issahaku has disputed the penalty that helped Ivory Coast seal a 2-0 victory over the Black Stars in their opening 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier. The Black Stars began their Group C campaign with defeat at the Stade de Bouaké on Thursday, with Malick Yalcouyé opening the scoring before […]
Ghana's Abdul Fatawu Issahaku has contested the penalty that aided Ivory Coast's 2-0 win over the Black Stars in their inaugural 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier. In the match held at Stade de Bouaké, Ivorian midfielder Malick Yalcouyé opened the scoring before Franck Kessié netted the second goal. The penalty was awarded following an incident where Issahaku was deemed to have fouled Yalcouyé inside the penalty area.
Despite admitting to his tackle, the 21-year-old claimed he didn't make contact with the Ivorian player and was only aiming to stop him from shooting. “Everyone can see what happened on the field, because I was the one who went for the tackle,” Issahaku stated. “I didn’t go to kick him or anything. I just wanted to stop him from shooting.
I don’t know why the referee made that decision because you can see clearly that I didn’t touch him.” Ghana’s coach Carlos Queiroz also criticized the ruling post-match, calling it a "joke". The loss left Ghana with zero points from their opening qualifier, while Ivory Coast led Group C with three points. Ghana will aim to improve when they face Gambia at the Accra Sports Stadium on September 29th.
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