Why VAR Was Not Used During Rivers United’s Loss to USM Alger

The Confederation of African Football, CAF has provided an explanation as to why the mandatory Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was not used in the quarter-finals return leg in which Algeria’s USM Alger knocked Nigeria’s Rivers United out 2-1 on aggregate.

The continental body wrote: “Due to circumstances beyond CAF’s control, there will be no Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology at the CAF Confederation Cup fixture USM Alger and Rivers United in Algeria today.

“For the last few days, CAF has been negotiating with Algerian Authorities to release the VAR equipment that has been kept by Authorities at the entry Port in Oran, Algeria since Wednesday morning.

“Regrettably, the VAR equipment was only released at 19h30 today (Sunday, the day of the match) making it impossible to drive the 400km distance between Oran and Algiers and make it on time.