Sports minister Gayton McKenzie has joined the call for the introduction of VAR in South African football.
This comes after Saturday’s game between Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns, where the Soweto giants were hit with a sucker punch in their 2-1 loss to the champions.
With the score level at 1-1, Iqraam Rayners scored to put Sundowns 2-1 up. But replays after show that Lucas Ribeiro was miles offside in the lead up, and the referee’s assistant was in the perfect place to pick it up.
All football loving fans know that the time for VAR has arrived in SA football. We need VAR & we need it now, those meetings start now because we are not a 10th world country. I shall report back soonest after meeting SAFA & the PSL this week.
— Gayton McKenzie (@GaytonMcK) September 29, 2024
And later in the game, a goal that looked like a stoppage time equaliser by Chiefs’ Ignacio Miguel was correctly chalked off. However, it was initially thought to be another bad decision by the Chiefs faithful, and missiles were launched at the officials after the game.
Both decisions have led to more calls for the introduction of VAR, and on Sunday, sports minister McKenzie vowed to get it sorted out.
“All football loving fans know that the time for VAR has arrived in SA football,” McKenzie wrote on his page on X.
“We need VAR & we need it now, those meetings start now because we are not a 10th world country. I shall report back soonest after meeting SAFA & the PSL this week,” said the sports minister.
Last month, Sport reported that while talks have been held between SAFA and the PSL, nothing concrete has happened.
One of the things thought to be holding up its implementation is money.
According to reports, it would cost around R1.2 million and R1.5 million to train 16 to 20 officials. On top of that, there’s the cost-per-season to use the technology. Morocco and Egypt are reportedly paying up to R23 million a season for VAR.
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