SAFA president Dr Danny Jordaan has provided an update on the implementation of the Video Assistant Referee [VAR] in South Africa.
The South African football governing body recently appointed former FIFA referee Victor Gomes as the chairman of the SAFA Referees Committee.
Gomes has since made the implementation of VAR his priority. And he has received support from the Association’s president Dr Danny Jordaan.
As things stand, SAFA is pushing forward with their intentions of VAR implementation in the South African football top flight.
SAFA has since confirmed that Jordaan has met with the ex-FIFA referee Pierluigi Collina. This was to convince him to come to South Africa to “help set up the VAR structures.”
Collina is currently involved with FIFA, tasked with the development of referees across the globe.
He comes in highly recommended, having previously been named the World’s Best Referee by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics
Collina was named the world’s best referee for six times in a row between 1998 and 2003.
Currently, the country has only two VAR-trained officials in the name of Gomes and Zakhele Siwela. The duo officiated at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
SAFA SET TO GO AHEAD WITH VAR IMPLEMENTATION
‘’I have met a lot of influential football people globally lately,” Jordaan told SAFA’s media department
“When I was in Paris [France] last week, I met the likes of Collina and Arsene Wenger.
“We want to tap into their expertise as we move towards revamping and taking our game to the next level.
‘’We want Wenger to help with boosting and revamping the development structures. And Collina to help set up the long-awaited VAR process.
“These are exciting times for South African football as we are also bidding for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.’’
Meanwhile, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has advised SAFA to stand their ground as they are one of the “leading organisations” not only on the African continent but globally.
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