CHAN 2018: VAR Mock-up Set For Casablanca

An offline session or mock-up of the Video Assistant Referees (VAR) technology will be conducted in Casablanca during the Group A Day Two matches of the Total African Nations Championship (CHAN) Morocco 2018.

It will be tested in both games; Morocco – Guinea and Sudan – Mauritania. The mock-up is a requirement of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) towards giving the green-light for the experimentation of the technology.

CAF intends to experiment VAR from the knockout stages of the tournament designed exclusively for footballers playing in their domestic leagues.

In respect of that, a two-man delegation from FIFA has since arrived in Casablanca to provide assistance, support and supervision for the offline sessions. The duo consists of Michael Bossler – FIFA Refereeing Manager and Carlos Velasco Carballo – FIFA Instructor and in charge of VAR project for the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018.

Eddy Maillet, CAF Refereeing Manager said the FIFA duo will work together with their African counterparts for the sessions, which is basically a simulation on the usage of the VAR.

“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.

On his part, Bossler explained that the objective of the VAR amongst is to help the referee on the field avoid game-changing mistakes. VAR will review decisions including goals, penalty, red card and mistaken identity.

It will be recalled IFAB at its 130th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Cardiff on 5 March 2016, approved a two-year period of “live experiments with video assistance for clear errors in match-changing situations” amongst others.