Echoes are still rolling round Nigeria’s 2-1 loss to Algeria in the semi-finals of this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, but the winning coach on the night in Cairo, Egypt, Djamel Belmadi has declared that the penalty with which the Super Eagles scored their only goal in the thrilling encounter should not have been awarded by Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
Although Belmadi admits he was excited and relieved to see his side win the match with a 94th minute back-breaking free kick from their captain, Riyard Mahrez, he insists Nigeria would have ended without scoring in the game, had VAR not given them a spot kick from a dubious handball.
Megasportsarena.com reports that Algeria were leading Nigeria 1-0 when Oghenekaro Etebo’s shot struck Aissa Mandi’s arm, but play continued for nearly a minute before a halt was called and the incident was reviewed by VAR.
Nigeria were then awarded a penalty kick, which Odion Ighalo converted nearly four minutes after the offence, for which Belmadi pointed out that Mandi did not seem to move his arm and might have had his sight blocked, as he was standing behind the striker, who ducked at the last minute.
Belmadi, though, reasoned further that the VAR incident that rocked Sunday’s game and slowed down the proceedings for five minutes, is just part of the larger collation of setbacks recorded in the competition by the introduction of technology in all the quarter-final matches.
He is among a line of coaches who argue that VAR has brought confusion to the championship, stressing that the device has distorted differences between accidental or intentional handballs, with three of such notable contentious incidents occurring in the semi-finals.
Algeria’s win over Nigeria and Senegal’s 1-0 extra-time victory over Tunisia both featured handball incidents, one of which has led to Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly set to miss Friday’s final through suspension.
VAR has only been used since the quarter-finals of the competition and Confederation of African Football (CAF) brought in two referees from Europe to support the system, based on their experience with it, but Belmadi insists his team was caught on the wrong side of its usage.
Belmadi submitted: “We had a meeting before the tournament with the referees and they explained to us more or less how it works.
“I still don’t understand the decisions. Handball, whether it’s voluntary or not voluntary, this is what I don’t understand.”