The fact that the new Premier Soccer League (PSL) season is going ahead nonchalantly without video assistant referee (VAR) is really breaking my heart, and a serious cause for concern.
It is also leaving a blemish on a thriving organisation that has been built on the sweat and blood of some of the most hard-working people in Africa.
This season, the need for VAR far transcends the customary check for offside calls, or whether the entire circumference of the ball went over the goal line.
There have been some vicious, career-ending tackles, and dangerous players are getting away with murder.
Polokwane City’s bonehead defender Surprise Mathonsi and AmaZulu’s Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya got a free get-out-of-jail card after their crunching tackles on Mamelodi Sundowns’ Teboho Mokoena and Orlando Pirates’ Sihle Nduli this past week.
Both Mokoena and Nduli were left sprawling on the turf in excruciating pain. Their legs were almost broken in half, and their careers were almost curtailed by one reckless challenge that warranted harsher sanctions. But neither of the two culprits was sent off or given a red card – because of human error. The referees on assignment missed the actions. That’s where VAR would have stepped in to institute some justice.
But VAR in the PSL is not even near implementation.
Safa’s focus right now is on the looming presidential elections next month. The kind of energy applied in making sure that incumbent Danny Jordaan wipes the floor with businessman Sandile Zungu, who has entered the presidential race, is jaw-dropping.
The issue of VAR has been parked on the side, and they will, just maybe, start wiping the dust off the VAR file once they have secured Jordaan for another four-year term at the helm of the SA diski mother body.
A few weeks ago, Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie told Sunday World that they were writing a follow-up letter to Safa, demanding an explanation for the delay – but it’s still quieter than a trapped mouse. Even the longest-serving acting CEO in the whole world, Mato Madlala, washed her hands of VAR matters.
“VAR is the responsibility of Safa, and I do not have anything to say about VAR,” she brushed off an enquiry from Sunday World.
Safa’s head of referees, Abdul Ebrahim, recently opened up to yours truly: “Look, as you know, we have a VAR project team in place. And as far as the VAR project team is concerned, they have done all the groundwork, and they’ve made the recommendation with an adjudication report that was sent to the Safa CEO [Lydia Monyepao], which was submitted to the national executive committee (NEC) for approval.”
“I don’t want to say there is no way that we will have VAR in the upcoming 2026/27 season. I’ve been involved in quite a few VAR training sessions. I can tell you now, the training is very extensive. The project team is now awaiting approval from the NEC to give the go-ahead. We do know that the department of sport has deposited money for the VAR rollout.
The retired Fifa referee said that once they have received the approval, the VAR project team would organise a media briefing with the CEO to inform everybody of the next steps.
So, in the meantime, fans, coaches, players and other stakeholders must just brace themselves for more headaches, sleepless nights and chaos.
Crunching, unpunished career-threatening tackles, wrong off-side calls and disallowed goals will continue to rule the roost.
- The fact that the new Premier Soccer League (PSL) season is going ahead nonchalantly without video assistant referee (VAR) is really breaking my heart, and a serious cause for concern.
- It is also leaving a blemish on a thriving organisation that has been built on the sweat and blood of some of the most hard-working people in Africa.
- This season, the need for VAR far transcends the customary check for offside calls, or whether the entire circumference of the ball went over the goal line.
- There have been some vicious, career-ending tackles, and dangerous players are getting away with murder.
- Polokwane City’s bonehead defender Surprise Mathonsi and AmaZulu’s Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya got a free get-out-of-jail card after their crunching tackles on Mamelodi Sundowns’ Teboho Mokoena and Orlando Pirates’ Sihle Nduli this past week.
