‘But I think it is a question of money…’ Hugo Broos on African football

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has spoken of a crucial but costly element that African football desperately needs to improve for high-stakes tournaments like the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

The strong stance by Broos on the need for Video Assistant Referees [VAR] in African football comes after Bafana’s 1-1 draw against Nigeria in their 2026 World Cup qualifier at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo on Friday night.

In addition, the African qualifiers for the World Cup have been marred by a string of controversial refereeing decisions. Many believe the implementation of VAR could have rectified these errors.

CAF shoulders the responsibility for implementing VAR in continental competitions, including the World Cup qualifiers. Several other confederations, including UEFA [Europe], CONMEBOL [South America], and Asia, have already embraced VAR for their World Cup qualifiers.

Broos is of the view that eliminating human error through VAR is vital for the continent’s development, particularly in high-pressure tournaments like the World Cup qualifiers.

HUGO Broos Calls for VAR to Eradicate Human Error

“For these kind of games [World Cup qualifiers], I think we need VAR,” said Broos. “It is too important, and we saw it in [2023] AFCON, and it was a good thing because there were some decisions that were incorrect, and they were corrected after VAR was consulted.”

South Africa’s World Cup dreams were dashed in 2022 by a contentious penalty call in their loss to Ghana, and VAR was not in use. That defeat lingers for coach Broos as Bafana set their sights on qualifying for the 2026 tournament.

“We are playing to qualify for the World Cup, and I think in such a competition, such important games, we need VAR,” reiterated Broos.

While advocating for VAR, Broos recognises the significant financial investment it requires. He acknowledges that the technology itself can be expensive.

“But I think it is a question of money; I don’t know…I think it is expensive and I know it from my country [Belgium] too, in every competition and game VAR is used. But it is important because one goal can decide if you go or you don’t go to the World Cup, so I think we need it.”

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