The Petrol stopper and his teammates cause a scandal after the VAR broke down and they were denied a penalty

The phase happened at the score of 0-1, in the DR Congo box. Newcastle United defender Chancel Mbemba handled the ball from a free-kick but South African referee Abongile Tom did not see the offence.

The VAR broke down and Benin were denied a penalty. It could have been 1-1

From the VAR room it was sent to him to go and review the phase, but when he got in front of the monitor, the technology stopped working, so, despite the protests of the footballers from Benin, the “central” did not award a penalty. Problems with the referee's comms equipment contributed to dictating ten minutes of extra time!

VIDEO. The phase after which the penalty should have been awarded

🇨🇩🇧🇯Action qui fait polemique!
Main de Chancel Mbemba non whistled… et une VAR out of service ❌
Erreur d'arbitrage ou décision logique? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/2R8sT824vA

— Sport News Africa (@snewsafrica) December 23, 2025

Previously, at the beginning of the second half, VAR intervened on a DR Congo goal scored by Bakambu. After a long check of the phase from which it was scored, the referees found an offense in its construction and the success was annulled.

Yohan Roche, the villain of the DR Congo – Benin match

The negative character of the game was the oilman Yohan Roche, guilty of the Congolese goal in the 16th minute. Due to a poor placement, Roche incredibly let the ball pass him, Bongonda took advantage and scored without problems, for 1-0. “Calamity in the defense of Benin!”the game commentator reacted live.

Roche stayed on the field until the end of the game, but his teammate David Kiki (FCSB) watched the game from the bench. It ended 1-0 for DR Congo, the national team that is in 2nd place in group D, led by Senegal also with 3 points, but with a higher goal difference. For the Benin national team, the duel at home with Botswana follows on December 27.

Yohan Roche has played 18 games for Petrolul this season, scoring a goal and providing an assist. It is quoted by the specialized website Transfermarkt at 400,000 euros.

7 players from the Super League and a Romanian coach are at the Africa Cup of Nations

Superliga is represented by seven players in the competition from the African continent, and FCSB is the team with the most, three in number.

• FCSBSiyabonga Ngezana – South AfricaDavid Kiki – BeninBaba Alhassan – Uganda
• DINAMO BUCHARESTDevis Epassy – Cameroon
• RAINY OILYohan Roche – Benin
• CLUJElio Capradossi UNIVERSITY – Uganda
• FC ARGEȘEsteban Orozco – Equatorial Guinea

Romania is also represented by a Romanian coach at the tournament in Africa. It is about Mario Marinică, the Zimbabwe national team coach. On Monday, his national team lost in the final against Egypt, score 1-2.