Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Finidi George says the absence of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in their world cup qualifiers game against South Africa player a huge role in the game ending 1-1, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Finidi’s team came from behind to draw 1-1 against the South Africans in Uyo but could have easily snatched all point as they had a valid case for a penalty denied by the referee, when goal scorer Fisayo Dele-Bashiru was hacked down in the box.
The draw which leaves Nigeria in 5th position in their group, two points behind leaders Lesotho could have been better according to Finidi who says the strike from Samuel Chukwueze which crashed under the bar likely went in, but due to the absence of VAR it wasn’t checked.
They go into today’s game against Benin Republic looking for their first win but it could have come against their guest on Friday judging by Finidi’s take after the game.
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“I’m sure we all saw the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire where the VAR was properly used,” Finidi recalled.
“Even the Europeans were applauding the AFCON, you know. For me, I don’t know why in (World Cup qualifiers) like this, where everything counts and we couldn’t have a play or incident properly checked to know if a goal is properly scored or not. Chukwueze’s cross which hit the (underneath of the) bar, from where I was standing, I don’t know whether it crossed the line, but if there’s VAR, we would have had the opportunity of having a better view. For me, I’m just a coach and cannot change the rules of FIFA.”
