A local referee nicknamed John Terry accused Sulley Muntari of slapping him after he had handed the Ghana international a yellow card during an all-star ceremonial game on Monday July 31, 2017 at Kotobabi Wembley.
Laryea Kingston who also featured in the said game says Sulley Muntari was restrained, so the allegations that he slapped the referee are false.
Speaking to GHANAsoccernet.com, Laryea narrated: “I was there when the whole thing started. Sulley never slapped the guy. It’s a lie.”
“While on the bench, I saw the referee frustrating Sulley for reasons better known to him. He whistles for a foul against Sulley for any tackle. All this while, I saw Sulley always trying to talk to him to take it easy.
“On one occasion, Sulley knocked my player but the referee did not give a foul which eventually resulted in a goal against my team. At that point, Sulley told the referee he should have rather whistled for a foul against him for that tackle.
“Surprisingly, the referee told Sulley he’s not the one to teach him his job. That was when Sulley got angry and wanted to confront the referee but he was restricted by myself, Eric Bekoe and Sheikh Tophic of GHANAsoccernet (who also played in the game) rushed to restrict Sulley.
“So there was no incident like slapping,” Laryea further noted.
The former Black Stars winger then revealed one of his players saying the referee’s act was deliberate as he had planned to do that the previous week.
“One of my boys told me after the game that the referee went to Sulley for something (money or boots or something) after the game the previous week and Sulley denied him. So whilst at the dressing room where my players were changing, he said he will teach Sulley a lesson whenever they meet again. So he deliberately did that to Sulley,” Laryea added.
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