Cape Town - The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) has established itself as an integral part of modern football and has become a support tool for officials to make informed decisions.
The Premier League in England, the world’s most popular league, first rolled out VAR in 2019 and since then many of the world’s major leagues and competitions have followed suit.
VAR is presently in use in Algeria, where the African Nations Championship (CHAN) is in progress.
VAR helps to show if a player is offside at the time a goal is scored. The replay on VAR can also establish whether a penalty should be awarded or not. A replay can also show whether the ball has crossed the goalline or byline.
The DStv Premiership is one of the richest leagues in Africa and enjoys generous TV coverage. The need for VAR in South Africa is now greater than ever since there have been a plethora of incidents which could have been avoided had the system been in place.
These incidents have also made a mockery of the game and brought the PSL into disrepute. Yet the PSL have not made moves to install VAR at venues around the country.
A few months ago, Marumo Gallants lost 1-0 to champions Mamelodi Sundowns in a league encounter at Loftus in Pretoria. Towards the end of the match, Gallants scored a goal which was denied, much to their anger. After the final whistle, the match officials had to be escorted off the field by security.
TV replays showed that referee Michael Mosemeng had rightly ruled that Gallants were offside at the time they scored the disallowed goal. Had VAR been at hand, there would have been no debate.
A few weeks later, Dan Malesela again called out match officials after his side was denied a goal.
Initially, the goal was awarded but an assistant had informed him of offside play. Had VAR been at hand, the offside theory could have been tested.
However, this time Malesela was correct because replays showed the scorer was not offside.
Afterwards Malesela said: “The pain is not about us losing matches, it is about what is being done to the PSL. I would never have imagined things (the officiating) to be like this at any given time in the PSL.”
On Sunday, Swallows scored a goal in the dying minutes of their 0-0 draw with TS Galaxy but the goal was controversially denied because of an offside call. TV replays showed there was no evidence of offside.
It is said football can make grown men cry and that was the case when Swallows’ German coach Ernst Middendorp was close to tears at the post-match interview. Clearly his anger had reached boiling point as he immediately decried: “How the hell?”
A few days ago, referee Christopher Kistoor signalled ‘goal’ after Royal AM’s Motebang Sera struck the crossbar. The ball ricochetted downwards but was nowhere near crossing the goalline.
After a discussion with the assistant he cancelled the goal while the fourth official did not know what the correct score was.
A day before this match, SuperSport United’s Bradley Grobler scored but was flagged offside in their clash against Golden Arrows. Replays showed Grobler was not offside.
It is not like SA referees are world-class and they are capable of making the right calls every time. It does not help that the two controlling bodies of local football, Safa and the PSL, have never seen eye-to-eye.
Perhaps the Safa Referees Department can take the initiative to start the programme of installing the necessary equipment at venues around the country.
@Herman_Gibbs