CAIRO – The quarterfinal clash between Senegal and Benin on Wednesday at the June 30 Stadium, will go into the history books as the first-ever game at the Afcon finals with VAR (Video Assistant Referee).
VAR will be introduced following the approval of the Caf Executive Committee and match officials have been preparing feverishly for its usage.
VAR, with the aim of reducing unfairness caused by ‘clear and obvious errors’ or ‘serious missed incidents’, will be applicable from the quarterfinals of the competitions following the permission from the International Football Association Board (IFAB) and world soccer governing body, Fifa.
Since the beginning the tournament, there has been mock tests of VAR during selected matches, which gave the match officials a practical feel of the system which is expected to enhance officiating at the flagship continental event.
It will be the first time Caf will be applying VAR at a major championship, after a mock usage during the African Nations Championship in Morocco in 2018.
VAR made its entry into African football for the first time at the Caf Super Cup clash between Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco) and TP Mazembe (DR Congo) in Casablanca in February 2018.
It was followed by the final matches of the Caf Interclubs competitions in 2018 and for the 2018/19 season, and the 2019 Caf Super Cup in Doha, Qatar.
IFAB Technical Director, David Elleray, who has been supervising the VAR training sessions at the Military Academy Stadium in Cairo, has lauded the decision to have the system for the remainder of the competition.
“Caf is being sensible for introducing VAR at the quarterfinals of the Africa Cup of Nations. This is a critical stage of the competition and there are key matches.
"It is better to have quality in terms of decision making and VAR will help do that,” Elleray told CAFOnline.com.
“We have been working on this since April 2018. It has been a process and with the support of Caf Instructors. We are satisfied so far with the preparations and we are training every day to get better.”
In a related development, two Europeans referees have been brought on board to support the VAR system based on their experience and familiarity with the latter.
They are Paulinus Van Boekel (Netherlands) and Benoit Millot (France).