VAR train is on the move – but where’s the PSL?

The South African Football Association (Safa) arrived with heavy artillery at the Freedom Park Heritage Site & Museum in Pretoria last week, when it held a joint press conference with Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie to address the thorny matter of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in the game.

Safa’s high-powered delegation included president Danny Jordaan, CEO Lydia Monyepao and vice-president Linda Zwane. They had more firepower in their arsenal with the likes of national executive committee member Job Mchunu, chief financial officer Gronie Hluyo and the association’s chief medical officer Dr Thulani Ngwenya sitting on the bench and ready to step in. Maybe Dr Ngwenya had brought his stethoscope in case someone in their delegation collapsed due to the unbearable Pretoria heatwave. Fortunately, the good doctor’s services were not needed because everything went smoothly.

While McKenzie was his usual self – bubbly and fanatical – CEO Monyepao represented the association like a seasoned campaigner and fielded the questions admirably. She surely did her homework and researched the topic matter impressively. Members of the media and observers in the audience would have left fulfilled with the answers and responses.

But there were some glaring absentees at the top table which were a cause for concern. The Premier Soccer League (PSL), who will be the main consumers of the VAR, were conspicuous by their non-attendance. The outcries for the implementation of VAR are birthed in PSL matches week and in out. It was the same last week during the exhilarating MTN8 final, where Mamelodi Sundowns spanked Orlando Pirates, with some of the referee calls unjustified and over the top.

Not so long ago, in November, VAR was part of the heated and fiery deliberations in the portfolio committee on sport, arts and culture in parliament.

PSL chairperson Irvin Khoza, requested to be excused from the virtual meeting, stating that it would be difficult for them to contribute meaningfully because he did not want to risk answering questions about VAR without having clarity. Khoza said he did not want to take a shot in the dark because they had not been consulted and did not have enough information from Safa.

MPs criticised Safa, arguing that implementing VAR without consulting the PSL, which would ultimately use the final product, was premature.

The league’s absenteeism does raise eyebrows and could set the battlefield alight as the project goes ahead. It is a well-known fact that Safa and the league bosses can never share a bowl of biltong; and it’s going to be interesting to watch when the implementation stage arrives.

The broadcasters too were nowhere to be seen. Supersport, the pay channel and rights-holder, is key in the project and its input is important, especially when it comes to the visuals and TV technology to be used.

But all the sideshows are not that important – what is encouraging is the fact that the VAR train is finally leaving the station. The looming sideshows can be tolerated and dealt with but the lack of VAR and wrong referee calls cannot continue in a league that prides itself as one of the best on the continent.

Why has implementation taken longer than anticipated? Monyepao explained that the execution was not merely the purchase of equipment. It was a complex football-modernisation programme requiring:

• Fifa approval;

• Referee certification and training;

• Competition integration;

• Broadcaster compatibility;

• Infrastructure readiness;

• Procurement compliance;

• Sustainability planning; and

• Long-term operational funding.

Kgomotso Mokoena