![South African Football Association (SAFA) president Danny Jordaan has hinted when the domestic league could start using video assistant referee [VAR] technology](https://farpost.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/images-2.jpeg)
South African Football Association (SAFA) president Danny Jordaan has hinted when the domestic league could start using video assistant referee [VAR] technology.
Recently, poor refereeing and allegations of officials taking bribes have dominated headlines.
Jordaan has since revealed that the issue of VAR has been discussed and could soon be used in the local league.
In fact, the PSL seems to be inching closer to introducing VAR, a decision taken during their last AGM meeting.
Jordaan hopes that everything will be ready by the end of the current season. The technology would require local referees to undergo training to operate VAR.
SAFA ON VAR
“We have to look at VAR. We have to train part of the referees to operate VAR,” Jordaan told delegates at the ongoing World Football Summit in Durban.
“It is a necessary and important development. We hope that it will be sorted when we come to the new season.
“Because the infrastructure in stadiums must be in place for the introduction of VAR, and it is imminent.”
The introduction of VAR will be something that will surely be welcomed, especially with concerns that coaches and club bosses have raised.
Calls for VAR have heightened, with coaches and club bosses clamouring for it as poor officiating bedevils the local game.
In 2019, Morocco became the first African country to apply the VAR for their local competitions following authorisation from the International Football Association Board (IFAB).
And in the months building up to VAR’s debut in Morocco, Moroccan referees were taken through a variety of training courses to use the technology, whether as main referees or at the video hall.
In addition to the training sessions for referees, the North African country also worked on preparing the national stadiums to fulfil the criteria to use VAR technology.
Earlier this year, at the Africa Cup of Nations, the technology was used for all 52 matches of the competition held in Cameroon.
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