Confederation of African Football (CAF),has confirmed the usage of Video Assistance Referee (VAR) in all the 28 matches for the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations that began in Morocco yesterday.
According to a statement on the CAF website, this will be the first time the video system will be applied in the women’s competition set for Morocco. CAF director of referees Eddy Mailet has described the latest news as a “bold step in the right direction.”
“This is a bold step in the right direction,” Mailet told CAF portal adding: “As women’s football is growing in Africa, it is important that we adopt the latest trends and technology to enhance the game.
“We have some of the best match officials in Africa in Morocco and training and development of them is key for us. Four female match officials, Salima Mukasanga of Rwanda, Carine Atemzabong of Cameroon and Fatiha Jermoumi, and Bouchra Karboubi from Morocco, were part of the list of match officials at the 2021 Afcon in Cameroon and did an amazing job.
“By using VAR for all matches at Wafcon we are looking to continue the progression and development of the standard of Caf women’s football.”
The full implementation of VAR at key CAF events was put up as a priority by Caf president Patrice Motsepe when he took office last year.
Since Motsepe’s arrival, VAR was used for 52 matches during the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon. The video system was also used during the knockout stages of the Caf Champions League and Confederation Cup last season.
The system was also in place for the first time at the latter stages of the women’s Champions League, at the Super Cup finals in 2020 and 2021, and also at the last phase of the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 African qualifiers (last 10 countries), both home and away.Defending champions Nigeria’s Super Falcons will start their title defence with a Group C fixture against South Africa at Moulay Hassan FUS on Monday.
