SAFA President, Danny Jordaan, has provided an update on the
implementation of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology in South
African soccer. VAR is already being used in various CAF competitions,
although leagues in Africa are yet to make use of the technology.
Jordaan revealed he met with former referee Pierluigi Collina about the
idea of bringing him to South Africa to help set up the technology. He
stated, “I have met a lot of influential football people globally lately
and when I was in Paris (France) last week, I met among other people,
Collina and Arsene Wenger who we want to tap into their expertise as we
move towards revamping and taking our game to the next level. We want
Wenger to help with boosting and revamping the development structures and
Collina to help set up the long-awaited VAR process. These are exciting
times for South African football as we are also bidding for the 2027 FIFA
Women’s World Cup.”
SAFA have revealed that Victor Gomes, Zakhele Siwela, Akhona Makalima and
Abongile Tom are the only VAR-trained referees in South Africa. Dr Jordaan
added, “We are vigorously moving forward as part of our Vision 2030 and we
have lined up extensive and various programmes to shape our goals. In the
coming weeks, we will be calling upon all our Regions, LFAs and structures
to workshop them on what FIFA directed all MAs to do.”
