The South African Football Association have revealed that they are pushing forward the implementation of the long-awaited Video Assistant Technology (VAR).
SAFA President Dr. Danny Jordaan, who has been meeting influential football figures from around the world, recently met former referee Pierluigi Collina, with whom he discussed the possibility of inviting him to South Africa to assist in establishing the VAR structures.
Collina is currently employed by FIFA, the governing body of international football, where he is responsible for the global development of referees. From 1998 to 2003, he was named the World’s Best Referee six times in a row by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics.
South Africa has only four VAR-trained officials – Gomes, Zakhele Siwela, Akhona Makalima, and rising star Abongile Tom – and Dr. Jordaan believes that by recruiting Collina, South Africa will accelerate the long-awaited implementation of VAR. According to the FIFA Statutes, the MA has the authority to oversee and implement all Referee structures and programs.
‘’I have met a lot of influential football people globally lately and when I was in Paris (France) last week, I met among other people, Collina and Arsene Wenger who we want to tap into their expertise as we move towards revamping and taking our game to the next level,’’ said Dr Jordaan
‘’We want Wenger to help with boosting and revamping the development structures and Collina to help set up the long-awaited VAR process. These are exciting times for South African football as we are also bidding for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.’’
SAFA has recently been on the international charm offensive, with FIFA President Gianni Infantino urging the Association to take its rightful place as one of the continent’s and world’s leading organisations.
In a workshop held in Paris last week and attended by Dr. Jordaan and SAFA CEO Advocate Tebogo Motlanthe, FIFA addressed, among other topics, the need for MAs to establish viable academies, school sports, and women’s football.
‘’We are vigorously moving forward as part of our Vision 2030 and we have lined up extensive and various programmes to shape our goals. In the coming weeks, we will be calling upon all our Regions, LFAs and structures to workshop them on what FIFA directed all MAs to do,’’ added Dr Jordaan.
