SAFA turn to COSAFA and FIFA for fresh push on VAR implementation

The South African Football Association (SAFA) has acknowledged that its Video Assistant Referee (VAR) programme could have progressed further if it had consulted COSAFA Head of Referees Felix Tangawarima sooner.

Tangawarima will attend SAFA’s meeting with COSAFA and FIFA today, where the organisations will discuss how to move forward with introducing VAR in South Africa.

The CAF and FIFA referee instructor has overseen the training of VAR officials in the region. Eight South African match officials have so far completed VAR training, while SAFA ultimately wants 90 referees to be trained.

SAFA chief executive Lydia Monyepao said the association should have sought Tangawarima’s guidance in 2024 or early 2025.

“As administration, we were tasked with consulting COSAFA to see what they are doing that can assist us in fast-tracking the training of our referees. That’s when we made the decision to send Mr. Chad Soo to the CAF Women’s Champions League in Gaborone, as well as the Under-20 Men’s Championship in Mozambique,” said Monyepao.

The move will allow Soo to work with COSAFA and assess its systems, while also reviewing the work already completed by SAFA’s VAR project team.

“So that he can spend time with COSAFA under the leadership of Mr. Felix Tangawarima. This will allow him to assess what they are doing, identify the gaps in our approach, and evaluate what the VAR project team has already submitted to us. We need to determine how to take this forward. Yes, you are right; we should have consulted him earlier. Maybe if we had done it in 2024 or early 2025, we would have had our 90 referees trained by now.”

VAR costs and testing plans

Questions have also been raised over the total cost of introducing VAR. The overall bill was previously estimated at as much as R80 million, while the government distributed an initial tranche of R20 million earlier this year.

Monyepao has addressed the issues surrounding the VAR budget, including the factors that will determine the final cost.

SAFA plans to test the technology in its own competitions before it is introduced in Premier Soccer League (PSL) matches. However, Monyepao said the next steps would become clearer after discussions with the PSL and broadcasters SuperSport and SABC had been completed.

SAFA revealed yesterday that it had received 11 bids from companies seeking to supply the VAR system. Five of those companies have been shortlisted.

Monyepao said the meeting with COSAFA and FIFA would help SAFA determine what type of company should be selected for the project and how the implementation process should proceed.