Zimbabwe already had seven referees with VAR training before FIFA’s latest domestic rollout programme began in September 2026. CAF referees manager Felix Tangawarima says those officials were trained through CAF and COSAFA, so the country is not starting with a room full of people seeing the system for the first time.
Brighton Chimene is the clearest example of what that head start looks like. CAF named him among the video match officials for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, and ZIFA later announced another VAR appointment for him at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. He has also worked high-level matches as an on-field referee, which gives him experience on both sides of the communication chain.
For Zimbabwe’s planned domestic VAR debut, the useful question is not whether anyone in the country has touched VAR before. Some officials clearly have. The harder question is how deep that experience runs once you move beyond the most established names.
The setup mattered because COSAFA was not treating VAR as a quick classroom add-on. Officials worked with the technology behind the scenes before live deployment, giving them practice with the timing, communication and review process without every exercise affecting the actual match. It is closer to learning the job in context than memorising a protocol from a slide deck.
Chimene then moved further up the ladder. CAF’s official AFCON 2025 list placed him among 14 video match officials for the tournament in Morocco. He was also appointed as referee for a 2026 World Cup qualifier played in October 2025, showing his development has not been limited to sitting in the video operation room.
His July 2026 WAFCON VAR appointment adds another layer. Repeated continental appointments matter because VAR work is partly about routine. Officials need to communicate quickly, separate factual checks from subjective reviews, and know when an incident does not justify intervention. Familiarity with the booth is useful only when those habits survive pressure.
Those figures should not be mashed together and presented as seventeen different VAR officials. No public roster currently explains whether the two counts refer to the same people, different roles or different certification stages. Seven is the safer number for the current domestic rollout because it comes directly from the official overseeing the latest implementation work.
Even so, the older ZIFA account is useful. It shows local VAR education has already happened on Zimbabwean soil rather than existing only as overseas exposure for one or two senior referees. There is a wider training base behind Chimene, even if the exact current certification list has not been published in enough detail to name everybody confidently.
A video-based referee decision training meta-analysis published in 2025 pooled six randomized trials involving 163 participants and found a great improvement in decision-making after video training. The authors also flagged the small evidence base and limited participant detail, which is a fair warning here too. Training history matters, but a head count alone does not tell you how match-ready each official is.
The domestic challenge is turning scattered experience into a reliable crew structure. A competition needs referees who can work on the pitch, officials comfortable in VAR and assistant VAR roles, and enough trained people to avoid leaning on the same small group every time the technology is used.
Chimene proves Zimbabwe already has at least one official trusted at major continental level in the video role. The seven-referee figure suggests the bench goes deeper than one person. What is still missing publicly is a current named list showing who is certified for which role, how recently each person has trained, and who would form the actual domestic VAR crews when competitive use begins.
Brighton Chimene is the clearest example of what that head start looks like. CAF named him among the video match officials for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, and ZIFA later announced another VAR appointment for him at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. He has also worked high-level matches as an on-field referee, which gives him experience on both sides of the communication chain.
For Zimbabwe’s planned domestic VAR debut, the useful question is not whether anyone in the country has touched VAR before. Some officials clearly have. The harder question is how deep that experience runs once you move beyond the most established names.
Zimbabwe already has real VAR experience
COSAFA had Zimbabwean officials inside its VAR development work before the current ZIFA project. At the 2024 COSAFA Cup, Brighton Chimene and Thabani Ruzario were among the Zimbabwean referees involved in a tournament where VAR was used from the semi-finals onward, and officials trained with the system during earlier matches.The setup mattered because COSAFA was not treating VAR as a quick classroom add-on. Officials worked with the technology behind the scenes before live deployment, giving them practice with the timing, communication and review process without every exercise affecting the actual match. It is closer to learning the job in context than memorising a protocol from a slide deck.
Chimene then moved further up the ladder. CAF’s official AFCON 2025 list placed him among 14 video match officials for the tournament in Morocco. He was also appointed as referee for a 2026 World Cup qualifier played in October 2025, showing his development has not been limited to sitting in the video operation room.
His July 2026 WAFCON VAR appointment adds another layer. Repeated continental appointments matter because VAR work is partly about routine. Officials need to communicate quickly, separate factual checks from subjective reviews, and know when an incident does not justify intervention. Familiarity with the booth is useful only when those habits survive pressure.
The public numbers need careful reading
There is one wrinkle in the available record. Tangawarima’s September 2026 update says Zimbabwe already has seven VAR referees trained by CAF and COSAFA. A separate ZIFA account of the COSAFA Under-17 and CAF Under-17 qualifiers in Harare says ten Zimbabwean match officials emerged fully certified after VAR training at the tournament.Those figures should not be mashed together and presented as seventeen different VAR officials. No public roster currently explains whether the two counts refer to the same people, different roles or different certification stages. Seven is the safer number for the current domestic rollout because it comes directly from the official overseeing the latest implementation work.
Even so, the older ZIFA account is useful. It shows local VAR education has already happened on Zimbabwean soil rather than existing only as overseas exposure for one or two senior referees. There is a wider training base behind Chimene, even if the exact current certification list has not been published in enough detail to name everybody confidently.
A video-based referee decision training meta-analysis published in 2025 pooled six randomized trials involving 163 participants and found a great improvement in decision-making after video training. The authors also flagged the small evidence base and limited participant detail, which is a fair warning here too. Training history matters, but a head count alone does not tell you how match-ready each official is.
Domestic depth is the next test
Zimbabwe’s referee development is broader than the VAR project. ZIFA ran another elite referees and match commissioners course in May 2026 covering fitness, positioning, offside, tactical fouls, handball, teamwork and match management. Regular work on ordinary refereeing still matters because VAR does not replace the judgement used before a review ever starts.The domestic challenge is turning scattered experience into a reliable crew structure. A competition needs referees who can work on the pitch, officials comfortable in VAR and assistant VAR roles, and enough trained people to avoid leaning on the same small group every time the technology is used.
Chimene proves Zimbabwe already has at least one official trusted at major continental level in the video role. The seven-referee figure suggests the bench goes deeper than one person. What is still missing publicly is a current named list showing who is certified for which role, how recently each person has trained, and who would form the actual domestic VAR crews when competitive use begins.
