VAR to be used in African World Cup playoff qualifiers

File pic. Sporting’s and Santa Clara players wait for VAR (Video Assistant Referee) decision during the Portuguese League Cup semifinal soccer match Sporting vs Santa Clara held at Magalhaes Pessoa stadium in Leiria, Portugal, 26 January 2022. Picture: Paula Cunha/EPA

File pic. Sporting’s and Santa Clara players wait for VAR (Video Assistant Referee) decision during the Portuguese League Cup semifinal soccer match Sporting vs Santa Clara held at Magalhaes Pessoa stadium in Leiria, Portugal, 26 January 2022. Picture: Paula Cunha/EPA

Published Mar 24, 2022

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Johannesburg - The first of two legs of the final round of African World Cup qualifying kick off on Friday and the Confederation of African Football (Caf) has opted to pull out all the stops for this most critical phase of qualification.

The road to determining the final five teams that will represent the continent in December in Qatar will be aided by the welcomed introduction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) into the last phase of qualifying.

"President Patrice Motsepe confirmed that Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will be used at all the African qualifier matches between 25 and 29 March 2022," the statement from Caf read.

Recent clashes between the South African national team and Ghana in the World Cup qualifying are thought to be the instigators for the introduction of VAR at this stage of proceedings.

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Bafana Bafana's World Cup qualification hopes came to a controversial end as Senegalese referee, Maguette N'diaye, upon review, appeared to gift Ghana a dubious penalty and that penalty turned out to be the difference as Ghana leaped above Bafana and progressed to the final round of qualification.

The reliability of the VAR and its reputation is a hugely debated subject. While it does add a certain level of accuracy, many feel it also impacts the human element of refereeing and infringes on the man at the centre of the field and his/her ability to make huge calls decisively.

The refereeing standards of African football came under the spotlight at the recent Afcon 2021 showpiece. Even with the presence of VAR, the tournament played host to one of the most consistently controversial and heavy handed refereeing ever seen in a major tournament, resulting in seven red cards in the Round of 16 alone.

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