happiness Chikwanha
Sports Reporter
COSAFA Referees’ Manager Felix Tangawarima says every member association within COSAFA, including ZIFA, will soon have training in the use of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) systems in order to prepare officials for CAF and FIFA assignments.
The legendary former Zimbabwean referee confirmed that the bloc has received the equipment from CAF to equip associations.
VAR will be used at this year’s COSAFA Cup from the semi-finals in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth).
Zimbabwe are represented at the tournament by referees Brighton Chimene and Thabani Ruzario.
“I will speak boldly about our VAR project as COSAFA,” Tangawarima said.
“Now that we have received our equipment from CAF, we want every member association within COSAFA to have VAR certified referees, so it does not impact us when it comes to CAF and FIFA appointments.
“Right now, we are struggling because we don’t have many certified referees, so when it comes to the big games in CAF and FIFA, our match officials are not being appointed.
“So we are trying to bridge the gap between those who are certified and those who are not. We have made progress as COSAFA, I think we are the only zone on the continent who are doing this.
“This year three of our tournaments will have VAR, probably more than CAF will do. This project will have a big impact on match officials in the Southern African region.
“The investment is huge and we want to make sure that it is money well spent. As a zone, we will be number one in Africa in terms of VAR.”
RELATED STORIES
ZIFA MUM ON COSAFA PREPARATIONS
Tapera to overhaul Cosafa Cup squad
Online Reporter