SAFA given 9 September deadline to explain untouched R20m VAR funding

Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie has given SAFA until 9 September to provide a credible plan for introducing VAR in South African football, or return the R20m allocated to the project so the department can consider alternative options.

The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) said the money remains untouched, despite the long-running delays surrounding the use of video assistant referees and continuing refereeing controversies in the Betway Premiership.

SAFA confirmed in writing on 18 August that the full R20m was still held in a separate account and had not been used. The association also said the interest earned on the allocation remained in the account.

The only public money spent on the VAR project so far is R765,257.03, which funded a technical fact-finding mission to Spain in November 2025.

The department issued a detailed statement to clarify the status of the project and address confusion over the larger sums previously associated with it. In October 2024, DSAC said up to R90m could be made available. A figure of R82m was later set aside, but National Treasury ultimately approved R20m as the first tranche.

Any further funding would depend on progress with implementation.

The project began in October 2024, when McKenzie met the SAFA NEC in Gqeberha. SAFA formally backed the introduction of VAR following that meeting.

In April 2025, SAFA issued a Request for Proposals and later created a tender evaluation committee that included representatives from SAFA, DSAC and the PSL.

The process was subsequently brought into line with FIFA’s VAR Implementation Assistance and Approval Programme. That programme requires a detailed project plan, the appointment of a VAR Project Team and approval of the proposed technology solution.

A technical delegation travelled to Spain in November 2025. SAFA later submitted an amended three-year implementation plan with an estimated cost of about R54.7m.

Under that plan, training for match officials was due to start in July 2026. Experimental VAR use was scheduled for the 2026/27 Nedbank Cup semi-finals, with a full rollout planned for the 2027/28 season.

The programme has since made little progress. DSAC asked SAFA for a written update in April, but no report was submitted. In May, SAFA’s NEC approved the project in principle but instructed that the budget should undergo another review before final approval.

By July, SAFA CEO Lydia Monyepao had confirmed that none of the department’s funds had been spent.

DSAC formally requested the return of the R20m on 13 August. Five days later, SAFA replied that the money remained intact and asked for a further 21 days to complete its internal verification of the budget.

That request was granted, leaving SAFA with a deadline of 9 September to report back.

McKenzie said the department would recover the allocation and investigate alternative routes involving FIFA and CAF if SAFA failed to provide a satisfactory update and a credible procurement timetable.

“I put VAR on the table and I told the country it was coming, so the disappointment with the pace of progress belongs to me as much as to anyone else,” McKenzie said.

“I want to apologise to every South African I have let down. What I will not do is pretend. The money is there, it has not been touched.”

The minister said he remained committed to bringing VAR to South African football, even if the original process could not be completed as planned.

“VAR must come to our football. If it cannot come the way we planned, it will come another way. But come it will,” he added.

The department’s position is that no public money has been lost, although the project has lost significant time.