SA Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie assures that VAR implementation in the PSL is on track, with plans to transfer funds and send officials for training, but the technology is unlikely to be seen until next season. Picture: Michael Sherman/IOL
Image: Michael Sherman/IOL
Though he promised the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) would be used in PSL Football in South Africa this season, SA Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie has not yet managed to achieve that feat.
Nine months ago, McKenzie first promised it would be coming to the Betway Premiership.
With the season already into the second half, VAR is still nowhere to be seen.
Despite this, McKenzie maintains everything is on track.
“VAR is not like a loaf of bread, where you give money and get it. We are on track… We have appointed a company that will be implementing the VAR. We sent a team to Spain, referees and officials, to go and learn,” McKenzie told SportsBoom.co.za
"This week, we will be transferring the rest of the money for SAFA to get VAR. We are fully on track.”
The soonest we may see VAR in SA will be next season, McKenzie explained.
“There is no league in the world which brings VAR in the middle of the season.”
The use of VAR has once again been one of the big talking points this season in the league, and the patience of the SA football fraternity appears to be wearing thin.
In November, it was reported that the technology was still in the early stages of testing according to the Safa Referees Department.
The initial reports said that VAR would be trialled during the Nedbank Cup semi-finals in April, but it will still have to go through a number of implementation stages before that.