There are encouraging signs that the Video Assistant Referee system is going to be introduced next year into South African football – it is already long overdue, writes Mark Gleeson.
Premier Soccer League chairman Irvin Khoza told his recent annual general meeting to expect “exciting happenings” in this particular arena, while the South African Football Association also say they are pushing the agenda.
Admittedly, hot air is, I need not remind you, something of a specialty of sports administrators, so there must be some healthy scepticism as to how and when it will be introduced.
Firstly, the overriding consideration is the cost. A fulsome roll-out of VAR across all matches in the top flight of South African football would be an expensive exercise. It must go with a television commitment to broadcast every one of the 240 league games per season. Plus, all the cup games.
Each game would need a dedicated VAR set up – a booth to view the video feeds, extra cameras, and so on.
To make it worthwhile for the PSL, it has to go in tandem with the latest graphic technology as we saw at the World Cup and that we are exposed to when we watch games from England’s Premier League.
FIFA are developing a ‘VAR lite’ with less equipment and therefore lower cost, so that the technology can eventually be rolled out worldwide, but this is not the solution for South Africa, where the PSL needs to be in line with what the major leagues worldwide do to stay relevant to its television audience.
It is, after all, the TV-rights money that provides the bulk of the club’s income.
Also, who is going to pay for VAR? SAFA oversee refereeing in this country, but they survive on FIFA handouts.
The PSL should pay, but then they will also want control over refereeing matters, which FIFA will not allow. This impasse is why professional refereeing is still a pipe dream years after its was first mooted.
The bottom line is VAR needs to be introduced into the South African game quickly, otherwise its credibility, future audience and television money is in jeopardy.
