Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso said maintaining calm during a VAR malfunction that delayed the second half of the CAF Champions League final first leg was vital for Africa’s footballing image, the report says. The match at Loftus Versfeld was held up for more than 20 minutes after the teams came out for the second half because VAR technology had stopped working, and the game continued without VAR.
The report notes that Sundowns secured a 1-0 victory over AS FAR thanks to a first-half free kick by Aubrey Modiba. Cardoso told reporters he had engaged directly with opposing players and staff during the stoppage, saying, “We represent Africa. We need to be a good example to the world after what happened at AFCON. We have to play this match. Even without VAR, we have to play it. Let’s go.” He added that it was “very beautiful to see how everybody understood each other” and that the teams exchanged salutations at the end.
The referee for the fixture was Congolese official Jean-Jacques Ndala, who the report says was earlier at the centre of controversy during the Africa Cup of Nations final in Rabat in January. The VAR blackout did not produce any major officiating controversy during the second half, according to the report.
The match also saw crowd trouble in the stands, with the report saying supporters and police used spray canisters against each other and that police deployed a stun grenade toward AS FAR fans who were throwing objects. Cardoso said he did not see the violence himself. Alexandre Santos, the AS FAR coach, acknowledged witnessing the trouble but did not consider it serious enough to stop the match and said he hoped nobody had been hurt.
Looking ahead, Santos told the media that the delay made restarting difficult and that his team must recover ahead of the second leg in Rabat on May 24, per the report, adding that they would “do, for sure, our best in the next game” to keep alive their chance to win the title.
