African Nations Championship introduces virtual referee technology

RABAT, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology will be introduced for the first time in Africa during the African Nations Championship (CHAN), which is being staged in Morocco between 13 January and 4 February, the Confederation of African Football announced on Wednesday.

A mock-up of the VAR technology will be conducted on Wednesday in Casablanca during day two of the Group A matches, the CAF said in a statement.

The tournament, which is for African footballers based in their own domestic leagues, features 16 teams in four groups.

It will be tested during the games between Morocco and Guinea as well as between Sudan and Mauritania.

The mock-up is a requirement of the International Football Association Board.

The CAF intends to experiment with VAR from the knockout stages of the tournament, it added.

A two-man delegation from FIFA, in charge of VAR project for the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018, has since arrived in Casablanca to provide assistance, support and supervision for the offline sessions, it also pointed out.

Eddy Maillet, CAF Refereeing Manager said the FIFA duo will work together with their African counterparts for the sessions.

"The FIFA experts will test the devices to be used for the exercise in a real match situation. It will also involve two referees and one assistant referee in a cabin communicating to the match officials on the pitch for matches in Casablanca," he said. Enditem