Video replay saves Vipers

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SOCCER. Video system to the rescue as Vipers down Mbarara. Ondu snatch a point in Jinja.

KAMPALA. Game officials often talk about the 17 laws of football.
There is however an unwritten 18th rule that officials often apply that is regarded as perhaps the most important; that of common sense.
On Friday it was well applied by the often criticized officials as Vipers recorded their second away win of the season, a 1-0 win away to Mbarara.
With 12 minutes on the clock, substitute Moussa Mbayi put Vipers ahead after Tony Odur’s effort was parried into his path by goalkeeper Ali Kimera.
But with large holes in the net, the Congolese’s strike went through with most of the home crowd believing the ball had gone wide.
The assistant refereed flagged for a goal kick, thinking the ball had gone wide.
He was clearly wrong and centre referee Muzamil Tulu was clearly dependent on his assistant’s flag.
Luckily for Vipers and Mbayi, Azam Uganda official Thadeus Kitandwe was able to provide the match officials led by Tulu with the replay with the crowd threatening beginning to get violent.
The officials basing on the replay awarded the goal two minutes later despite the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) System not being applicable in Uganda.
Introduced last year, it allows officials to review decisions made by the head referee with the use of video footage and a headset for communication.
There are four types of calls that can be reviewed. These include goals and whether there was a violation during the buildup, penalty decisions, red card decisions and mistaken identity in awarding a red or yellow card.
With hindsight it was probably the right call although it came much to the chagrin of the largely partisan Mbarara crowd whose team suffered their first home loss to remain on nine points after eight games.

Goalless draw
The result moved Vipers to 15 points and second place (before yesterday’s games) just above Onduparaka who could only manage a goalless draw away to Bul with all four teams having played eight games.
In a related development, the league has had to adjust their fixtures after Fufa confirmed that Uganda Cranes will face Congo Brazzaville next Sunday in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
A number of players have been summoned to prepare for the said match. Accordingly, the fixtures for all clubs that have more than two players that have been summoned for national duty have been rescheduled as shown below.
Also, the 2017 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup has changed from November 17-30 to November 25-December 9.
Matches slated for this Tuesday have been moved to December 22. The biggest of those is SC Villa hosting Express.

AZAM UGANDA PREMIER LEAGUE