Referee reveals reasons for giving a penalty to Portugal to a Ghanaian

Ghanaian Dr. Joe K, formerly of Prempeh College caught up with the referee who officiated Portugal vs Ghana. The referee insisted it was a penalty.

He said based on what he saw at that moment, it was a penalty. If VAR thought otherwise, they would’ve called him. But they didn’t meaning it was correct.

He was kind of regretful. He said he used to play soccer with Ghanaians around his community in the USA. He didn’t expect this uproar though. He’s a Moroccan immigrant to the USA.

Elfath is the only American referee going to Qatar. He will be part of a large group of officials who will run the games, and he will be in charge of the first group game between Portugal and Ghana.

In the second half of his first game, he gave Cristiano Ronaldo a penalty for a foul by Mo Salisu. This seemed like a very soft call.

Here's all the information you need about him.

Who is Ismail Elfath?

Ismail Elfath was born in Morocco in 1982. When he was eighteen, he moved to the United States.



Elfath began his career as a fourth official in 2011. The next year, he became an MLS referee for the first time.



After four years, the 40-year-old became an official with FIFA.

Later that same year, Elfath was the referee for the first game to use VAR, which is now used in the Premier League.

In 2019, the American got his first international call-up and officiated the match between Ukraine and South Korea in the final of the Under-20 World Cup.

This got him involved in the 2019 Club World Cup, where he led Liverpool to a 2-1 win over Monterrey in the semi-finals.