Safa referees committee chair Victor Gomes has insisted that VAR will be implemented in SA soon. Safa referees committee chair Victor Gomes has insisted that VAR will be implemented in SA soon. Picture: Jesus Diges EPA
Johannesburg - Safa referees committee chair Victor Gomes has insisted that the video assistant referee will be implemented in South African football sooner rather than later.
With the technology being in place in various high-profile leagues across the globe for several years now, many have called for it to be implemented in SA amid criticism of the standard of local refereeing.
“It’s not a question of whether it will happen, but it is now a question of when we will kick-start the process,” said Gomes in a Safa statement.
Gomes, widely regarded as one of the best SA referees of the modern era, retired from officiating after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He has since been appointed to Safa as the chair of the referees committee and will be tasked to improve refereeing in the local game.
Despite having one of the most followed professional leagues on the African continent, SA has been slow to introduce VAR with there only being three VAR trained officials, namely Zakhele Siwela, Akhona Makalima and Abongile Tom.
Safa president Danny Jordaan recently held talks with former referee Pierluigi Collina about the introduction of VAR in SA. Collina, known for his strict refereeing, mainly in the 1990s and early 2000s, is widely considered to have been one of the greatest referees of all-time.
The 63-year-old remains involved in the game and is currently the chairperson of the Fifa referees committee, where he is tasked to improve the state of refereeing globally.
IOL Sport