VAR in Mzansi soon? I'd be careful what I wish for.
Many more competent football leagues have found it tough to get decisions right.
Just last weekend, the Premier League saw a number of frankly embarrassing calls.
And it proved costly for title-chasing Arsenal and European hopefuls Brighton.
Arsenal were on the receiving end of a Brentford equaliser that could have been ruled out for offside in two instances.
Brentford's equaliser vs Arsenal shouldn't have stood as there was an offside in the buildup. But Lee Mason managing VAR "forgot to draw the lines"
— •WL• (@skillwilll) February 11, 2023
That's all the wrong VAR decisions from today I think. Probably gonna be more tomorrow 👍 pic.twitter.com/kvHnGxp25l
And the Prem have now had to throw the book at referees' body the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) for getting those decisions wrong.
Note "Professional" in the name.
Here in South Africa we don't have professional refs, which might explain most of the problems we've had with the standard of officiating in the PSL and lower down the pyramid.
Now we hear in a report that the South African Football Association (Safa) and the PSL are close to given VAR the green light. I'd like to know the cost of implementing the system, which I'm sure will require not only broadcast cameras, but tactical ones too.
Then there will be communication costs.
And I'd rather see that money go to raising the standard of refereeing before given them an expense tool they might fail to use properly.
Lots of training goes into using VAR and it they think that it will be a short cut to consistently correct calls, they are more misguided than I thought.
Dit werk'ie so nie.
If anything, VAR coming into South African football should be preceded by a programme to improve our refs and professionalise the job.
Giving our refs VAR is like buying a Formula One car for someone when they haven't even passed the learner's exam.
Safa and the PSL will have to come up with a different plan or at least postpone this for another two seasons.