NO SIMPLE SOLUTION

SOUTH AFRICAN FOOTBALL FANS HAVE BEEN PROMISED THE VIDEO ASSISTANT REFEREE FOR THE BETWAY PREMIERSHIP. BUT IT WILL NOT BE EASY TO IMPLEMENT.

- By Mark Gleeson

2016 The Video Assistant Referee concept was pioneered by the Dutch football association and tested from as early as 2012 in the Netherlands. The first live trial of the system was in July 2016 in a friendly match between PSV and FC Eindhoven

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) remains much talked about in South African football but is still not reality.

Supposedly, it is on its way ... but this promise has lingered in the air for some time but has not yet landed.

Club owners balk at the cost, estimated to be between R50 million and upwards per season. The league would have to pay those costs and it would come from funds otherwise heading into the accounts of the 16 topflight teams.

The delay in taking a decision impacts the credibility of the Premier Soccer League, where there remains consistent speculation, conjecture, and conspiracy theories around alleged corruption in the refereeing ranks.

What would it take to get VAR up and going? First, the broadcasting of all of the league matches, which has been a reality for the last two seasons. It would be unfair to have some games with VAR and others not. More than half the topflight matches are broadcast live and the rest streamed, some filmed by as few as four cameras.