AFC Champions League Two: Eastern keeper Yapp Hung-fai slams ‘unfair’ application of VAR
A controversial penalty conceded by the Hong Kong club was key to their 2-1 loss at home to Kaya FC, making them unlikely to progress
Eastern goalkeeper Yapp Hung-fai has criticised the inconsistent application of VAR in the AFC Champions League Two, after he conceded a controversial penalty in his side’s 2-1 defeat by Kaya FC on Thursday.
Unlike in the primary AFC Champions League Elite competition, where video officials are used in all matches, the technology is not used in Asia’s second-tier tournament until the knockout stage.
In the first half of Eastern’s home clash with Kaya, as Yapp gathered a header back to him, he lifted his knee which allowed the onrushing Daizo Horikoshi to seemingly initiate contact before tumbling dramatically to convince referee Yousif Saeed Hasan to point to the spot and the forward scored the penalty to open the scoring.
“It is not fair to have VAR in some games and not in others,” Yapp said. “If there are some matches not using VAR, then it would be better that it is not used in any games.
“It’s the rule and we have to accept it, but the rules should always be the same for every team across one competition.”
A second penalty from Kaya’s Robert Lopez Mendy on 86 minutes condemned Eastern to a costly loss, despite a stunning 70th-minute equalising strike from Marcos Gondra.
