Stellenbosch FC coach Steve Barker has revealed that the VAR was considered for the MTN8 final following the increased controversy surrounding refereeing decisions in the SA top-flight.
Barker said this when journalists asked him about his views of VAR implementation in the country after the poor officiating during the MTN8 final clash between Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday night.
The Buccaneers walked away victorious, making history by becoming the first team to win the MTN8 title three times in a row since the competition’s inception. The Soweto giants defeated Stellies 3-1 to defend their title.
FIFA referee Abongile Tom, who was in charge of the match, became the latest match official to be at the centre of attention after allowing Pirates’ second goal from a free kick that was quickly taken far from where the incident occurred.
STEVE BARKER’S THOUGHTS ON VAR IN THE SA ELITE LEAGUE
With Barker feeling hard done by the referee’s decision, he noted that VAR implementation in SA would come in handy because incidents like that would have been prevented.
He went on to say that VAR was considered for the final, but nothing materialised from that idea.
“I think at some stage, there was a point when they were looking to target the final to implement VAR. Unfortunately, it did not happen,” said Barker in a post-match interview.
“However, it seems like there are big calls that do not go the right way. I think the implementation of VAR will help, you know.
“It’s just that a lot was happening. It’s a cup final; you take a quick free kick and end up scoring a goal. You know, he had that decision to make, and he let the goal stand. So, with VAR intervention, it would have been said, ‘Listen, we need to restart; it wasn’t taken at the right place,” and he was still speaking with the players and didn’t even see what happened.
“At least sanity would have prevailed, and we would have had an interesting extra time. But I do want to say congratulations to Orlando Pirates. It’s not them who made it happen; it’s the referee who made it happen. So, you can’t take away the luck they got, so congratulations to Orlando Pirates for what they have achieved.”
GAYTON MCKENZIE’S FEEDBACK AFTER MEETING WITH SAFA AND PSL FOR VAR IMPLEMENTATION
SA Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture Gayton McKenzie backed the implementation of VAR in the country and had a meeting with SAFA and PSL last Friday to find a way forward to make the VAR implementation happen.
McKenzie noted that a great job has been done so far by SAFA and PSL making VAR in the country a possibility, in his feedback after the meeting.
“Great work has been done by both SAFA and PSL in making VAR a possibility,” wrote the minister on his official media platforms.
“We spoke to both Dr Danny Jordaan and [Irvin] Dr Khoza. I went through the presentation and finance required. I was also contacted by the team that brought VAR to the English Premier League. We will soon report in detail.”
WHAT’S THE DELAY IN IMPLEMENTATION VAR IN SA
In an interview with this publication, SAFA head of the refereeing department, Abdul Ebrahim, acknowledged that training referees and technical personnel would be a significant challenge because of finances.
However, he revealed that they have received approval to develop a comprehensive budget for VAR implementation in SA, something that is still a work in progress.
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