After Hawk-Eye VAR technology failed during the second leg of the 2019 African Champions League final at Stade Olympique de Radès in Tunisia, CAF have decided to redeem their image by contracting Spanish media group, MediaPro to provide Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology for AFCON tournament.
During the controversial return-leg match in Tunis, Esperance de Tunis were crowned CAF Champions League winners after their opponents, Wydad Casablanca, refused to return to the field of play after VAR failed and their goal was wrongly disallowed.
This seems to be the situation:
– Wydad score a legitimate goal that is called OFFSIDE.
– Replays show the player was onside but theres no attempt to see VAR by referee Gassama
-Wydad refuse to continue without checking VAR replays.#CAFCL #CAFCLfinal pic.twitter.com/sGixo8KrvO— Ahmed Osman (@ahmz_osman) May 31, 2019
The controversial moment came in the 58th minute of the CAF Champions League final second-leg clash when Wydad midfielder Walid El Karti’s effort was ruled out. However, CAF executive committee met in Paris on the fringes of the Fifa congress and decided to restage the match at a neutral ground.
CAF has now moved to ensure that there’s no repeat of VAR failure during the AFCON. This has prompted them to enlist Spanish media group MediaPro to provide Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology.
What about MediaPro?
Mediapro is a multimedia communications group in Spain. Founded in 1994 in Barcelona, the company is involved in movie and television production, as well as media beIN Sports.
MediaPro is based in Barcelona, with branch offices in Madrid, Seville, Girona, Lisbon, Madeira, Budapest, Miami, Porto, Qatar, Amsterdam and Tenerife.
MediaPro has been producing Kenyan Premier League matches for the last two seasons with the feed being beamed live on local televisions.
The fully equiped Media Pro OB Van is already in Nairobi and will head to Nakuru ahead of the #Kpl2018 season opener on Saturday 3rd February at Afraha. The double header pitting @Ulinzistars against @ZooKericho and @PostaRangersFC vs @AFCLeopards will be live on TV #Kpl2018 pic.twitter.com/hBIIQMeOFx
— KPL (@TheOfficialKPL) February 1, 2018
With the good reviews the Spanish media group has earned, stakeholders will be hoping that the technology will come in handy during the competition when it’s implemented from the quarter-final stage.