Football leadership approval key to VAR implementation and training timelines

This is how CAF VAR instructor and a member of the VAR project team, Jerome Damon responded to SABC Sport when asked about how long the VAR training will take. 

Damon says the training period can take anything from up to 10 weeks...

"I don't want to say it will be a long process, but there is a process because the timeline is determined by the resources we have available to conduct the training. You could train somebody to be a fully fledged VAR operator within ten weeks, but then again it could also be longer than that."

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SAFA and the PSL joint liaison committee will decide when the VAR has to be introduced, and the FA has already confirmed that it will be used in the Hollywoodbets Super League and their play-offs competitions as well.

The weeklong SAFA referees’ annual workshop comes to an end today, and one of the crucial lessons this week has been the introduction of VAR. Damon explains what’s contained in those lessons...

"VAR training happens across a lot of phases. The first is theoretical and then as we go into the practical phase, that would be to do simulated training just like a pilot or flight engineer. Then you have to do rehearsed situations on the field of play, followed by what is called offline training and that is when you have a simulated live situation where there is a live game happening but there is a surrogate referee who communicates with the VAR offline, and then they finally have to go through live orientation."

Damon knows all about the training, implementation, and running of VAR, he’s been at the forefront of implementing it at CAF level since it first began in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) and CAF inter-club competitions. 

Damon takes us through the phases of VAR training, before the full implementation...

"In this course they will get a full taste of what is to come before we can actually begin the training, and it focuses on what do we do in a VAR environment to sensitise match officials as to what they can expect."

Having overseen the introduction of VAR at CAF in different competitions, Damon also explained why it will be a gradual process to implement it. In the AFCON, the VAR was first introduced in the knockout stages before being implemented in the group stages in the following editions. 

In the inter-club competitions, it only enters in the knockout stage as well.