By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
In a bid to guide against complaints over on-field incidents during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 African qualifier return leg encounter between Nigeria’s Super Eagles and Black Stars of Ghana billed for Tuesday, the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) have been installed at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.
Prompt News can also report that the VAR have been tested and certified okay for the big clash which will guarantee a ticket to Qatar 2022 for either Nigeria or Ghana.
An on-the-spot assessment of the level of preparations at the match venue on Monday showed that the Federal Ministry of Sports and Youth Development and Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) are jointly working round the clock to get the stadium ready for the match.
Speaking on the readiness of the VAR for the Nigeria versus Ghana tie, a FIFA official supervising the technicians and engineers who pleaded anonymity said the VAR technology has been tested and it worked perfectly well.
Also, one of the engineers from Portugal who gave his name simply as Mario confirmed that the VAR is working perfectly and without hitches, pointing that the Centre Referee for the match will have to be referred to watch the replays during the match if the situation arises.
Meanwhile, Prompt News can confirm that a Nigerian digital television station, ARISE TV has been contracted to produced and stream the match for local and international viewers.
It was not clear if the NFF, CAF and FIFA which has the broadcast rights for the crucial match sub-contracted the telecast of the match to ARISE TV which is new in the business compared to Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and long time partner of NFF, African Independent Television (AIT).
