FOOTBALL Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Andrew Kamanga has said Football House will introduce Video Assistant Referee (VAR) next year to address some of the challenges in officiating.
VAR is a concept that allows certain incidents on the pitch to be reviewed by the main referee or by the VAR team before or after a decision is made by the main referee.
Usually, VAR is used to review four types of decision: goals and the violations that precede them, red cards, penalties, and mistaken identity when awarding a card. In some cases, a decision made by the main referee can be overturned; however, it must be a “clear error” for this to happen.
Speaking at the official opening of the FIFA member association goalkeeping coach yesterday, Kamanga said the association has made strides and is in the process of bringing VAR to Zambia.
“We have identified technology as one area which requires a lot of investment, in that regard we will be implementing the VAR, and for those of you who are not familiar it is the video assistant referee from next season.
We have been working in the background to ensure that we do adopt these modern technologies. We believe that if we introduce VAR particularly in our Super League it will go a long way to address the incompetence from match officials so that is coming next year,” Kamanga said.
Morocco is the only country in Africa that uses VAR in their top league, and should Zambia implement it, they will become the second country on the continent.
Photo Credit: Reuters
