Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed that the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will be used throughout the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament set to commence next month in Cameroon.
This will be the first time that the technology will be used for the entire duration of the regional football tournament as it was first introduced during the 2019 edition of the AFCON in Egypt, at the knockout stages of the competition to the final.
There was also a plan for the system to be used in the 2019 CAF Champions League final between Esperance of Tunisia and Wydad Athletic Club of Morocco but the game was brought to a halt after the system failed to work prior to kick off.
Despite the difficulties in the past, the VAR has been used in some crucial club games on the continent as well as international matches, aiding in the acquisition of the technical know-how on the use of the system.
With the development of the system on the continent, CAF is set to allow the usage of the VAR in all 52 matches of the 2021 competition, which will be staged in Cameroon.
This means all 52 games will have the VAR. A total of 63 match officials have been picked to feature at the tournament.
The tournament, which will be played in six different stadia, will start on January 9 and finish on February 6.
AFCON Groups:
Group A: Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Cape Verde
Group B: Senegal, Zimbabwe, Guinea, Malawi
Group C: Morocco, Ghana, Comoros, Gabon
Group D: Nigeria, Egypt, Sudan, Guinea-Bissau
Group E: Algeria, Sierra-Leone, Equatorial Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire
Group F: Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania, Gambia
52 countries took part in the qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations for the only 24 places available. The qualified teams unveiled after a campaign that started in October 2019 and ended in June 2021, due to the one-year hiatus caused by COVID-19, are now fixed on their opponents.
Road to Final
Group stage: from January 9 to 20, 2022
Round of 16: January 23-26, 2022
Quarter-finals: January 29 and 30, 2022
Semi-finals: February 2 and 3, 2022
Third Place match and Final: February 6, 2022.
Five main cities were selected as hosts of the tournament, namely Douala and its Japoma Stadium, Yaoundé and its Ahmadou Ahidjo and Olembé Stadia, Bafoussam and its Kouekong Stadium, Garoua and its Roumdé-Adjia Stadium and finally the Limbe-Buea venue which houses the Limbe Omnisport Stadium.
