The Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture adjourned its meeting while efforts were made to locate SAFA President Danny Jordaan, after questions over spending on video assistant referee technology resurfaced in Parliament of South Africa.
The issue has become a parliamentary accountability matter involving the department, SAFA and the PSL. Chairperson Joe McGluwa said the committee had already warned that VAR should be implemented in partnership with SAFA, arguing that the department was working in isolation and leaving SAFA and the committee exposed.
Why the committee pressed the issue
McGluwa described the spending on VAR technology as unacceptable. The committee’s concern was not just whether the technology should be used, but whether the process around it was being handled with the proper oversight and coordination.
That warning matters because the committee had previously said VAR should be introduced in partnership with SAFA and the PSL. Instead, the latest meeting turned into a search for answers and a search for Jordaan, before the session was adjourned.
McKenzie backs VAR as football evolves
Gayton McKenzie also weighed in, saying tackles in the PSL are career-ending and increasingly common, and that bad refereeing is becoming the norm. He said VAR is not a problem, but an evolution of football in the world.
McKenzie also said he had written to SAFA and that the letters went unanswered. He added that South Africa is late as a country on the issue.
The debate comes at a time when South Africa has just reached the round of 32 at the recently concluded FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico for the first time. The source also noted that other smaller leagues, including Tanzania and Morocco, already have VAR in place.
For the committee, the immediate question remains the same: who will account for the spending, and how quickly can the parties involved settle on a shared plan for VAR?
