To "Beware of VAR" is the beginning of Wisdom in AFCON 2021
Video Assistant Referee (VAR) introduces itself in Africa Cup of Nations - AFCON 2021 opening match: Cameroon vs Burkina Faso.
Cameroon's captain Vincent Aboubakar scored twice from penalty spot in tackles most referees officiating African football would have ignored ordinarily, but the VAR operators informed the center referee to watch the replay again and indeed it was penalty by the rules of the game.
Two foolish challenges from Burkina Faso's captain Bertrand Traore and Issoufou Dayo gave the Indomitable Lions the fillip to come back and win the first match of the 33rd Africa cup of Nations Cup tournament.
In fact, a Burkina Faso defender steeve Yago committed a red card tackle on Collin Fai just one minute into the game and the referee overlooked it and just gave him a yellow card instead.
Note that Yago was nowhere near the ball, and his right boot caught Fai. Normally, when you don't get the ball, and the tackle is deemed dangerous, then a red card should have been shown. Also, note that this tackle could have sent Fai out of the tournament because it was his boot was very high. But the referee didn't bother to look at the replay on VAR.
For the first time in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations, all 52 matches of the competition will use VAR. and the first match alone sends a warning to the other teams in this competition - Beware of VAR!!
Typical of countries like Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and how Africans play their football - very physical.
The defenders are trained to be brutal in their tackle to scare away rampaging attackers. Therefore, most African defenders fall short in modern football, often committing dangerous tackles and hacking down opponents at will. And referees in the past may have used some sort of different parameters in officiating African football.
VAR will change all that now, the referees will have to follow the rules of the game as it is. And teams with players playing in African teams may fall victim a lot to the "eagle eyes" of VAR.
The physicality of teams in this tournament maybe their own undoing and I see VAR being the defining factor in most games in this edition of the African cup of nation.
A lot of teams will loose matches they would have ordinarily win due to unrestrained physicality and casual play, which VAR will detect and punish the team for it.
