Plans by Ghana's football authorities to introduce Video Assistant Referee in the country's league has sparked heated debate in the West African country.
Ghana Football Association President Kurt Okraku said at a press conference on Friday that the need to introduce VAR is “part of our overall strategy to improve refereeing.”
The world football governing body, FIFA, had in 2021 approved the project team for the implantation of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in Ghana.
"We are going to introduce VAR into our football. Whatever we will do to introduce VAR into football, we will, as part of our overall strategy for improving refereeing, starting from our GPL (Ghana Premier League), we will. It's coming,” Okraku said.
His comments went viral on social media. Since then, some football fans have been criticising the VAR plans, with many commentators arguing Ghana’s football needs urgent action on more important issues.
'Not the priority'
“That should not be the priority. You are not able to maintain the pitches we have in the country. Sporting facilities are in a deplorable state. Focus on solving these issues first,” wrote a commentator on X.
Okraku has not reacted to the criticisms on social media.
Attacks on officials
But Ghana's history of violent clashes between football fans and match officials may have heightened the need to have VAR in matches.
In November last year, fans in Accra stormed the dressing rooms of referees during halftime at a local league game and beat up the officials over accusations of poor officiating.
In 2021, three referees were attacked and wounded by a mob after a Division One league match in the Bono region.
The fans accused the officials, who were saved by policemen, of making poor judgement calls during the match.
The Confederation of African Football condemned the assault on the referees in Ghana, and police presence is often increased at crucial local league matches.
VAR technology assists on-field referees to make accurate decisions during crucial junctures of a football match, such as awarding a goal, penalty, or red card, among other on-field calls.
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