SAFA admits they should’ve engaged Tangawarima earlier as VAR plans regain momentum

The experienced CAF and FIFA referee instructor has been responsible for the training of VAR referees in the region, including the eight match officials at SAFA who are currently trained. SAFA CEO Lydia Monyepao has also admitted that had Tangawarima been consulted earlier, they would be far by now.

"As administration, we were tasked with consulting COSAFA to see what they are doing that can assist us in fast-tracking the training of our referees. That's when we made the decision to send Mr. Chad Soo to the CAF Women's Champions League in Gaborone, as well as the Under-20 Men's Championship in Mozambique," said Monyepao.

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"So that he can spend time with COSAFA under the leadership of Mr. Felix Tangawarima. This will allow him to assess what they are doing, identify the gaps in our approach, and evaluate what the VAR project team has already submitted to us. We need to determine how to take this forward. Yes, you are right; we should have consulted him earlier. Maybe if we had done it in 2024 or early 2025, we would have had our 90 referees trained by now."

There have been a lot of questions asked about how much, in total, the implementation of the VAR will cost. Earlier, it was reported that the amount could go as high as R80 million overall, but the government started by distributing the first tranche of R20 million earlier this year, as Monyepao clarified the issues around the VAR budget and what informs it.

Monyepao has also explained why, as SAFA, they are targeting to test the VAR in their own competitions before moving to the Premier Soccer League (PSL) competitions. But she says all of this will only become clearer once engagements with the PSL and the broadcasters (SuperSport and SABC) have been concluded. 

SAFA also revealed yesterday that they had received 11 bids from companies applying to supply the VAR and shortlisted five, and Monyepao says that from this meeting with COSAFA and FIFA, they will get the way forward on what kind of company they should go for.