Colombia coach Carlos Queiroz on Sunday likened the use of VAR technology in football to a disease and claimed it should be rebranded as 'COVAR'.

The Portuguese saw his team lose 3-0 to Uruguay in a World Cup qualifier on Friday and was angry at a series of decisions in the match.

"We are facing a disease, 'COVAR', which no one understands, neither the coaches nor the players," Queiroz said in a video conference on Sunday, in a pun linking the acronym of VAR with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Queiroz claimed that in Friday's game, Argentinian referee Fernando Rapallini should have awarded his team a penalty in the 35th minute, when they were only one goal down.

"Not to whistle this penalty, while the referee was four metres from the action, in the 35th minute, it's almost criminal," complained Queiroz.

He insisted that he was not looking for excuses for the defeat, but believes that this decision changed "the whole game".

In the second half, the referee awarded a penalty to Uruguay that Queiroz described as "doubtful".

Colombia are seventh in the 10-team South American zone qualifying group for the 2022 World Cup finals.

They next face Ecuador on Tuesday.