Premier Soccer League chairman Irvin Khoza has confirmed that the league will talk to the South African Football Association about introducing video assistant referees to the league to assist referees.
The standard of officiating in the Absa Premiership has been the biggest talking point of the campaign so far, with a number of games dominated by poor decisions leading to some controversial outcomes.
This has led to mass calls for the introduction of VAR, with coaches, players, supporters and the media concurring after poor refereeing has harmed the league.
Speaking at the PSL’s annual general meeting during the week, Khoza confirmed that they have been looking at the technology with a view of implementing it in South African football.
‘The most important thing that emerged out of the AGM [on Thursday] was the request by members of the board of governors that we request Safa for a meeting to discuss the issues of referees,’ said Khoza.
‘Fortunately, we had present with us Safa acting CEO Mr Gay Mokoena and Mr William Walker, and they’ve agreed to take the matter up.
‘There are also some recommendations that we have on our side, which are innovative, and one of those things we want to discuss in the meeting [with Safa] is the introduction of VAR. Because without the permission of Safa, we can’t have VAR.’
Asked about how long it could take to get the ball rolling, Khoza admitted that while it is a matter of urgency the ultimate decision remains with Safa.
‘We’ve asked the acting CEO to request if it’s possible to have that meeting, so it’s a matter that’s still on the conveyer belt,’ he explained.
‘There’s no decision yet and, well, it is urgent. Hopefully we’ll get an answer sooner because, instead of talking about it ourselves, we want to give [correct] answers.
‘It’s a matter that is topical, therefore we should not speak out of turn because we may be speaking with wrong information. We need to understand the context of some of the things that we think are the problem.
‘So, it’s very important to get first-hand information about these issues that are being raised by clubs – we also must emphasise that all those people who speak out of turn must be charged.’
