The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is introducing another innovation in officiating at the U17 Africa Cup of Nations in Tanzania 2019, this time with assistant referees.
From Wednesday, Additional Assistant Referees (AARs) will be deployed during the semi-finals. Positioned on the goal lines, their role is to support the central referee in key decisions, particularly fouls or incidents in the penalty area, in accordance with the Laws of the Game.
Both semi-final matches, Nigeria vs. Guinea and Cameroon vs. Angola, will therefore be overseen by six officials on the field.
This move follows CAF’s earlier initiative of introducing female referees in official men’s competitions. Looking ahead, the senior Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt this summer, featuring 24 teams for the first time, will implement VAR technology starting from the quarter-finals.
