Al Ahly coach Marcel Koller was left fuming at VAR after his team were denied a clear penalty in their 1-0 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns on Sunday.
Marcel Koller was not pleased with how his men performed at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in the first leg of the African Football League semi-final clash against Sundowns.
However, he also insisted the referee on the day did not make things easy for Al Ahly as several decisions went against his team including a clear penalty, which was turned down by the referee.
Koller insisted that the referee was supposed to at least consult the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) over a late penalty incident involving Bafana Bafana Percy Tau.
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“I think we worked well in the defensive in the first half, and we close all the rooms and spaces,” said Koller. “What we were lacking was when we have the ball, we needed to be more calm and create more in the offensive.
“I tried to correct that during the half-time talk in the dressing room. Unfortunately we got a goal very early in the second half through a mistake from us. I think it was unnecessary, and we needed to be more focused.
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“After this goal, the game was equal, and we tried to push on. I think we should have earned a penalty by the end of the game. I don’t know why the referees in Africa don’t contact the VAR.
“There is VAR, and they don’t contact it in such situations. It was very obvious to me, and I think it’s very necessary for the referees to contact the VAR, especially when anything suspicious happens in the box, but he didn’t do this, and I don’t understand why.”