Sports News of Saturday, 6 October 2018

Source: ghanasoccernet.com

CAF makes an unprecedented decision for the African Champions League final

CAF implemented the VAR for the first time in February CAF implemented the VAR for the first time in February

Ahmad Ahmad has chalked another major success in his short reign as the President of CAF as VAR will be used in the finals of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup for the first time in the history of African football.

This is the latest of the radical improvements by the Malagasy since taking charge of Africa's football governing body some two years ago, generating positive reviews for CAF.

Africa became the first confederation in the world to use the latest refereeing technology for any of its clubs competition ahead of well-resourced bodies like UEFA and the AFC early this year.

CAF has been sparked into more historic successes after the success of the premier implementation of the latest refereeing technology during the Total CAF Super Cup last February between Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco) and TP Mazembe (DR Congo) in Casablanca.

The preparatory training for the 12 selected match officials for the use of the VAR technology has been scheduled for 24-29 October 2018 in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

Twelves elite match officials (six referees and six assistant referees) to be supervised by David Elleray, Technical Director of the International Football Association Board (IFAB).

The selected referees are Janny Sikazwe (Zambia), Ghead Grisha (Egypt), Mehdi Abid Charef (Algeria), Bamlak Tessema (Ethiopia), Victor Gomes (South Africa) and Papa Bakary Gassama (Gambia).

And the Assistant Referees are Emiliano Jerson Dos Santos (Angola), Zakhele Siwela (South Africa), Jean Claude Birumushahu (Burundi), Anouar Hmila (Tunisia), Abdelhak Etchiali (Algeria) and Mahmoud Abo El-Regal (Egypt).

In a surprise move, CAF will be using video technology in the two continental club competitions in Africa to inject more fairness and transparency into the refereeing of the game.

The semi-finals of the African Champions League took place on Tuesday, with Al Ahli of Egypt winning 2-0 at home to ES Setif, while Tunisia's Esperance lost to Angolan champions Premiro de Augusto and the second leg will be held on October 24.