KAMPALA, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Former Cote d'Ivoire and Arsenal FC defender Emmanuel Eboue has said the use of the VAR system at the on-going 2018 FIFA World Cup is eroding the fun and of football.
"This VAR system is not nice at all. Can you imagine where a referee has to run and consult the camera to be able to award a penalty or not. This is not nice at all," Eboue told Xinhua during an interview on Saturday at the Imperial Royal Hotel in Kampala.
Eboue and former Senegal international Ibrahima Sonko are in Uganda to share their experiences and encourage youngsters in football academies.
The newly introduced video assistant referee (VAR) is a team centralized in the video operation room that supports the match officials. The VAR does not take any decisions but supports the referee in the decision-making process and the final decision can only be taken by the referee.
Eboue said although some people around football have supported VAR that it brings about justice and quality of the game, the Cote d'Ivoire former player said instead it creates boredom in the beautiful game of football.
"Football should be left with that element of a human being judging and not running to cameras to judge. Football must be enjoyed freely because at the end of the day not all mistakes will be picked out," he added.
Speaking about the performance of African teams at the on-going World Cup in Russia, Eboue said with Egypt and Morocco already out, the likes of Senegal and Nigeria who have each won one game should up their game.
"Our teams should step up especially in defense because we do so many bad mistakes. World Cup is not about chance," added Eboue.
Africa is represented by Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Senegal and the Super Eagles of Nigeria at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Already Egypt lost two matches to Uruguay 1-0 and Russia 3-1, while Morocco fell 1-0 to lowly ranked Iran before suffering another similar defeat to Portugal on Wednesday.
The other two teams Tunisia fell 2-1 to England, while the Super Eagles of Nigeria lost 2-0 to Croatia before beating Iceland 2-0. Senegal defeated Poland 2-1 in their opening game.
