Bennett impressed with Quality Media’s VAR setup, as SAFA prepares to make key decisions

The delegation he sent to Spain this weekend has been left impressed with what they have seen on the ground.

Former FIFA referee and newly appointed South African Football Association (SAFA) Project Leader for the VAR management team, Daniel Bennett, is in Spain at the invitation of one of the four companies they have identified.

Bennett is impressed with what he’s seen so far and says now it’s all about the numbers.

"The system is really impressive, but now it's just about how much it's going to cost us to implement this. If there are funds available and we've decided on our budget, the good thing is that they can come in quickly to implement the operation."

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Bennett revealed to SABC Sport that they have received a total of 11 bids for the VAR tender, but they will meet as the management team tomorrow after he arrives from Spain and aim to narrow it down to four shortlisted companies.

McKenzie recently revealed during a press conference that Treasury has allocated a total of R20 million for VAR, in this fiscal (until March), and it’s believed that this will be enough to facilitate the starting process for VAR in South African Football.

Bennett, who conducts a significant amount of work internationally with the Mexican and Belgian Leagues, discusses this trip and the associated costs related to VAR.

"Our trip to Madrid was a very last-minute trip, and I'm quite satisfied that Quality Media has a full VAR service, and now it's up to the VAR management team to look at all the potential providers and make a decision.

At the Quality Media Hub, the main remote facility featuring a full VOR (Video Operations Room), Bennett, McKenzie’s special advisor Charles Cilliers, and journalists invited by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, were taken through various processes involved in the VAR.

Bennett told SABC Sport that the idea is to introduce the VAR during this season’s Nedbank Cup semifinals and possibly the final, with full implementation targeted for next season.

There are only three countries on the continent that are offering complete VAR, and they are all in North Africa (Morocco, Egypt and Algeria).

The Betway Premiership is undoubtedly the biggest league in Sub-Saharan Africa and one of the best on the continent, but the implementation of VAR is long overdue.

Bennett says they already have match officials who are trained for VAR, such as Abongile Tom, Ahona Makalima, Zakhele Siwela, and more.