McKenzie’s VAR plans stall as South African football bodies remain divided

Sports minister Gayton McKenzie has stepped back from responsibility for introducing video assistant referee (VAR) technology in South African football, saying the SA Football Association should now lead the process.

McKenzie made the announcement at a press conference in Pretoria this week, arguing that Fifa does not support government involvement in football administration. However, his latest position contrasts with a series of commitments he made after taking office more than two years ago.

He had previously said VAR would be trialled during last season’s Nedbank Cup semi-finals. That followed a fact-finding visit to Spain by a delegation led by retired referee Daniel Bennett, which McKenzie had arranged months earlier.

The minister has now said: “Don’t ask me about VAR,” after handing the project to Safa, an organisation the source article describes as having a poor record in dealing with the Premier Soccer League (PSL).

Questions over the relationship between the two bodies were raised during Safa’s appearance before parliament’s sports portfolio committee last November. Officials were asked why the PSL had not been consulted about VAR. PSL chairperson Irvin Khoza, who had appeared before the committee earlier, said he would be “shooting in the dark” if he commented on the issue.

Despite that, McKenzie repeated this week that the PSL supported the introduction of the technology.

“I’ve personally spoken to the chairman [Khoza],” he said. “He [Khoza] has even delegated someone to speak to us on this matter.”

No PSL representative appeared at the Pretoria briefing, and the league has not publicly confirmed whether it is prepared to implement VAR.

The report says Safa and the PSL have had strained relations for almost two decades, making cooperation on a project with such a significant impact difficult. It also criticises McKenzie for not bringing the two organisations together to agree a joint position, despite his earlier promise that they would “speak in one voice”.

Responsibility has instead been left with Safa, which has previously struggled to enforce even more basic proposals involving the PSL. Two years ago, Safa repeatedly discussed making coaching qualifications compulsory for PSL clubs, but the plan was never implemented.

The need for VAR is not questioned. The system has been adopted across world football to reduce clear officiating errors, even though it has its own limitations.

One example cited is the MTN8 final between Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns last weekend. Yanela Mbuthuma’s off-the-ball kick on Tashreeq Matthews was described as an incident VAR should have detected.

The article concludes that the repeated delays and changing explanations from McKenzie’s office have come at a cost to taxpayers. Despite promoting VAR for the past two-and-a-half years, the minister has yet to oversee its introduction and may leave office without it being used in South African football.