VAR and modern refereeing: Gamal El-Ghandour's view

Gamal El-Ghandour is a major figure in African and especially Egyptian refereeing. During his long international career, which began in 1996, he officiated at the Olympic Games, the World Cup, Euro 2000 and the Confederations Cup.

Egyptian referee Gamal El-Ghandour remains the first non-European official to referee at a European Championship. In an exclusive interview with FootAfrica.com, Gamal El-Ghandour shared his views on modern VAR-assisted refereeing and also looked back on the legendary Pierluigi Collina.

VAR: has football lost its real flavor?

“No. I can’t think of any particular decision for which I should apologize. Before VAR was introduced, refereeing relied on the human factor and individual judgment. Human errors were part of football. As the FIFA president at the time also pointed out, those errors were one of the things that made football interesting. VAR makes it possible to correct serious refereeing mistakes during a match. Decisions can be reviewed and changed if necessary. This has considerably strengthened fairness and impartiality in football.”

Read also: 2002 World Cup: Gamal El-Ghandour looks back on the controversial quarter-final between South Korea and Spain — Exclusive

Gamal El-Ghandour and Pierluigi Collina: what was the difference?

"The Laws of the Game are applied in the same way by all referees. What sets one referee apart from another is their fitness, strength of character and ability to manage a match. Pierluigi Collina was undoubtedly one of the greatest referees. But his generation also included other outstanding officials, such as Ali Bujsaim of the United Arab Emirates and Said Belqola, who refereed the 1998 World Cup final."

Read also: Ivory Coast: rising star Yaya Kader Fofana, who impressed Hervé Renard

Joshua SOSSOU

Editorfr, en, ar

As a sports fan, and particularly a football fan, I've been putting my writing talent to good use for a number of years now to promote African talent and the continent's football in general. On Foot Africa, enjoy reading each of my lines.