Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie told Parliament that government is still finalising the process of funding VAR, raising doubts about whether the technology will be ready in time for the upcoming PSL season.
Since he came into office last year, McKenzie has been loudly voicing the need for VAR in South African football. After last year’s game between Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns was settled in what looked like a dubious manner, the call for the technology has been growing louder and louder.
“The PSL needs to introduce VAR,” McKenzie said after the game. He followed that up with, “I’m meeting with SAFA to bring VAR to South Africa.” And later, he said, “There is money to bring VAR to the PSL.”
Those statements seemed to build toward action, and just over a month ago, McKenzie doubled down on his commitment, saying: “The R90 million is there, we went to Spain with the help of SuperSport again, we tested VAR. It works 100%.
“So people, stop asking me where VAR is. I have done what I promised to do. There’s nothing more I can do. The money is the most important [thing]. SuperSport assisted us, so next season there will be VAR. Let’s give SAFA a chance to finalise. There will be VAR in our soccer in South Africa.”
McKenzie’s statements over the last year have led to soccer supporters understanding that the technology would be rolled out soon, but his comments in a parliamentary vote speech earlier this week suggested that VAR may not, indeed, be coming to the PSL.
“We are also finalising the process of funding VAR to ensure that football matches, from the Premier Soccer League through to the international fixtures we host, are fairer and meet global standards,” he said on Tuesday.
“It is a necessity. We see stadiums vandalised when bad refereeing happens, and the success of teams like Mamelodi Sundowns makes global teams want to play here, but they get second thoughts because we don’t have VAR.”
While he did not explicitly say, “VAR won’t be ready next season,” his comments in Parliament have left football fans thinking they’ve been lied to over the last year. McKenzie sounds like he has overpromised and underdelivered.
IOL Sport
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