Controversial Penalty Puts AFCON 2027 Qualifying Under VAR Spotlight

By Angel No Lie | KPD Online | 26 September 2026 

The Ghana coach questioned why VAR was not available during the qualifier after a second-half penalty awarded to Côte d’Ivoire became one of the central talking points of the match.

Queiroz Questions VAR Absence After Ghana Defeat

Penalty becomes major talking point

Côte d’Ivoire led 1–0 when referee Mustapha Ghorbal awarded a penalty after Ghana midfielder Abdul Fatawu Issahaku was judged to have fouled Ivorian forward Malick Yalcouyé inside the penalty area.

Captain Franck Kessié converted the spot-kick, giving the hosts a 2–0 advantage. Ghana subsequently failed to find a way back into the match.

Queiroz said after the match that he had reviewed the incident on television and strongly disagreed with the decision.

“That penalty is a joke,”

he said, while stressing that his criticism was directed at the officiating rather than Côte d’Ivoire’s players.

Ghana–Côte d’Ivoire Clash Sparks Fresh VAR Debate

Queiroz questions VAR’s absence

The disputed call prompted the Ghana coach to question the wider officiating system.

Queiroz asked why VAR was not being used in AFCON qualifying matches and argued that the technology could provide referees with additional assistance in potentially decisive incidents.

“Why don’t we have VAR in Africa?”

he asked during his post-match press conference.

His argument comes as CAF continues to expand its VAR-related training programmes. CAF’s 2024–25 activity report says more than 100 referees and other officials have received VAR-related training, while the organisation has outlined plans to expand live VAR coverage across additional CAF competitions and qualifiers.

VAR is already part of AFCON’s tournament system

The debate is not about whether VAR exists in African football generally.

CAF has already used VAR in major competitions. Research published in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living notes that VAR was introduced at AFCON and was used throughout the 2023 tournament after earlier implementation was more limited.

The current issue is its availability during the qualifying stage.

CAF’s official schedule confirms that the 2027 AFCON qualifying group stage began on September 24, with Ghana’s Group C meeting against Côte d’Ivoire among the opening fixtures.

What the research says about VAR

The wider debate is more complicated than simply assuming that VAR eliminates controversial decisions.

A 2026 study examining AFCON matches before and after VAR’s introduction found significant reductions in fouls and offsides, while playing time increased. The study also found increases in penalties, goals and cards, although those latter changes were not statistically significant in the sample.

The technology can therefore provide referees with another mechanism for reviewing potentially decisive incidents, but it does not eliminate disagreements over interpretation.

A VAR official must still determine whether an incident meets the criteria for review and whether the available video evidence warrants changing the referee’s original decision.

Ghana’s difficult opening

The defeat leaves Ghana without a point from its opening Group C match.

Côte d’Ivoire took the lead shortly before half-time through Yalcouyé before Kessié’s penalty doubled the advantage in the second half.

Ghana’s next qualifier is scheduled for September 29 in Accra, when the Black Stars face The Gambia. CAF’s official fixture list confirms the match as Ghana’s second Group C fixture.

Queiroz has also said he remains proud of his players’ response and insisted that the defeat should not be interpreted as criticism of Côte d’Ivoire’s performance. The Ghana coach specifically separated his concerns about the penalty from the quality of the Ivorian team.

The bigger question for African football

The controversy has shifted attention from one penalty decision to a broader question: should VAR be routinely available during AFCON qualifying matches?

Supporters of wider implementation can point to the technology’s ability to provide additional evidence in penalty, goal, red-card and mistaken-identity situations. At the same time, expanding VAR requires trained officials, suitable broadcast infrastructure, cameras and operational resources across venues.

CAF’s own activity report indicates that the organisation is continuing to increase the number of VAR-certified officials and expand the technology’s use across its competitions.

That means the discussion following Ghana’s defeat is occurring alongside an existing CAF effort to expand VAR capacity rather than in isolation.

Independent assessment

The penalty remains a matter of interpretation surrounding the referee’s decision; Queiroz’s description of it as a “joke” is his assessment, not an independently established finding.

The verifiable issue is that Ghana did not have VAR available to review the incident, and the decision contributed to a 2–0 result that sparked renewed discussion about technology and officiating in AFCON qualifying.

CAF’s ongoing investment in VAR training suggests that the technology is expanding within African football, while the question of how broadly and consistently it should be deployed remains part of the competition’s officiating debate.