The Confederation of African Football(CAF) has approved the use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for the quarter final of the 2020 Total CHAN.
The approval was reached after the group stage of the competition which is being hosted by Cameroon was concluded on Wednesday.
It will be the first time that VAR will be used in a CHAN.
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A statement from CAF as gotten by Africatopsports.com reads as follows;
“CAF will introduce the use of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) from the quarter final stages of the 2020 Total CHAN in Cameroon this weekend.
“The first match that will have VAR in this tournament will be on Saturday, 30 January 2021 between Mali and Congo at Ahmadou Ahidiou Stadium in Yaounde.
VAR equipments installed in Stadium ahead of the Total CHAN 2020 quarter final.
CAF Deputy Secretary General Anthony Baffoe visited the VAR facilities and also the match officials and said the use of VAR will compliment the officials effort.
“The standard of football in this competition has been very high and this has been complemented by good match officiating.
VAR equipments installed in Stadium ahead of the Total CHAN 2020 quarter final
“Of course there are areas of improvement and with the introduction of VAR in the quarterfinals, this will assist our match officials to make quality decisions.
“As an administration, we are here to provide support.
VAR equipments installed in Stadium ahead of the Total CHAN 2020 quarter final
“We have highly qualified instructors and people in charge in that space and they are doing a good job.”
CAF Refereeing Director Eddy Mallet while commenting said he was delighted to see the reality of then use of VAR.
“We have been fortune that CAF has made available the latest technology and training equipment for our match officials during this tournament.
“This is indicative of the fact that the commitment to bring a professional structure in match officialting is not only lip serving but also a reality.”
CAF and VAR Facts:
CAF became the first Confederation to apply VAR in it’s competition after several trials supervised by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in 2018, during the CAF
Super Cup between Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco) and TP Mazembe (DRCongo) in Casablanca.
After the successful implementation, the CAF Executive Committee passed a resolution for the application of VAR in major competitions.
It has since been applied in competitions
such as the Africa Cup of Nations, CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup.