SAFA head of referees, Abdul Ebrahim, has weighed in on a much talked-about incident in the CAF Champions League quarterfinal match involving hosts Mamelodi Sundowns and Tanzanian giants Young Africans SC.
The trusted VAR failed to determine whether Stephane Aziz Ki's strike had crossed the goal line.
Strangely, the VAR team did not have a clear angle.
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Yanga has since written to the CAF offices voicing their anger about the decision not to give it as a goal.
Ebrahim says for VAR to function, it requires a minimum of four cameras in a stadium.
"The only angle everybody has is the angle that VAR saw," Ebrahim tells KickOff.
"An on-field decision was made. With on-field decision, it was not a goal, VAR could not find evidence to dispute that it was not a goal.
"So, the referee said no goal, VAR had no conclusive decision to prove anything to the contrary. Therefore, they go with the on-field decision.
"It wasn't a wrong decision, and obviously as it stands it's a no-goal.
"The VAR must do the checks, but the referee must decide on the field, and the on-field decision was no goal," he explains.
He adds that the decision was not as simple as some may have made it out to be.
"From the angle that everybody had, you cannot say the whole of the ball had crossed the line or not.
"We can't make decisions based on what we think, and unfortunately that is not a better angle for us to be able to determine whether the whole of the ball had crossed the line or not.
"There are several cameras required for a VAR to be used, but it depends on the type of system that is used.
"Usually the minimum is, like, four to six cameras. That’s the minimum requirement, and then after that, they build to make a better VAR system.
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"And also, we do not have a goal-line technology system as they have in the Premier League, where if the whole of the ball crosses the lines, it will beep in the referee's watch.
"They actually show the graphics to see if the whole of the ball has crossed the line."
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