The South African Football Association in conjunction with Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie have given an update on the implementation of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in South African football.
In August, McKenzie had expressed his anger at SAFA about the slow implementation of VAR despite him securing R30 million to fund the project, even threatening to withdraw the funds.
However, SAFA stated on Wednesday they had provided a report to McKenzie and his team, explaining the delay, which in return was accepted by the Minister of Sports, and the project is now pushing ahead.
However, SAFA CEO Lydia Monyepao confirmed that lots of steps still need to be taken before a full implementation of VAR in South Africa is possible.
“The training and certification process of referees is expected to take approximately four to six months, and will involve theoretical, simulator-based, and field-based practical training for referees, video assistant referees, and assistant video assistant referees,” she stated at a media briefing.
“Safa already has eight referees successfully trained through Cosafa on VAR, with three referees fully approved as referee VAR and AVAR, namely Abongile Tom, Luxolo Badi, and Akhona Makalima.
“Safa has already engaged Cosafa regarding referee training programs and intends to expand this pool of trained South African officials to support eventual implementation in our leagues.
“Safa is scheduled to meet with FIFA on 15 October 2026 for approval to kickstart the training of our referees, Safa’s position is therefore to prioritize referee training while outstanding technical procurement and stakeholder engagement matters are finalized by the task team, and a strengthened VAR project team is put in place.
“The current roadmap includes further engagement with FIFA, as indicated, from tomorrow onwards; further engagements with Cosafa on the training of referees, strengthening the VAR project team with representation from finance, technical, the PSL, and broadcasters; finalizing engagement by the VAR project team with the the PSL; engagement with the VAR project team, with broadcasters including Super Sport, Canal Plus, and the SABC; confirming technical compatibility requirements; conducting supplier demonstrations; and advancing referee training programs.”
When to expect VAR in SA?
Monyepao also confirmed that VAR would be tested in certain competitions such as the Hollywoodbets Super League, the ABC Motsepe League playoffs or potentially the Nedbank Cup in 2027.
“Our next milestone is not immediate full implementation of VAR, but rather a controlled trial phase,” she continued.
“Trials will be undertaken in Safa competitions such as the HSL (Hollywoodbets Super League), playoff tournaments such as the ABC Motsepe playoffs, appropriate cup competitions with permission from the PSL such as the Nedbank Cup, other suitable football environments approved under FIFA, such as international friendly matches, so that our boys and girls can also get used to VAR in preparation of the FIFA World Cup.
“This approach will allow proof of concept validation before wider deployment. Long-term rollout: Any broader rollout will be dependent on FIFA approval, successful completion of training, procurement compliance, stakeholder alignment, technical readiness, competition readiness, and sustainability requirements.
“Our key messages are that one Safa remains fully committed to introducing VRR in South African football.”