VAR ready to kick off in SPL on Feb 19
Local football fans will remember the refereeing controversy that plagued the Singapore Premier League (SPL) last season, when Tampines Rovers were beaten 1-0 by Lion City Sailors after Firdaus Kasman’s goal was wrongly ruled out for offside – which resulted in the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) issuing a public apology to the Stags.
With the video assistant referee (VAR) technology to be implemented in the 2023 season, the SPL will be aiming to avoid a repeat of such incidents when the campaign kicks off with the Community Shield match between Albirex Niigata and Hougang United on Feb 19.
In a media VAR workshop organised on Monday, FAS director of referees Nazeer Hussain said: “The purpose of implementing VAR is to get major decisions right to reflect the most accurate results. We understand that these decisions can affect the livelihoods of players, coaches and staff which is why we decided to bring VAR to Singapore.”
Over the course of the past year, SPL referees underwent a total of 22 training sessions to be certified to operate the VAR system.
Currently, there are 37 SPL referees, an increase of five from last season. According to the FAS, 11 out 12 match referees are certified as VAR referees, while nine of the 25 assistant referees can function as VAR assistant referees.
With a total of six match officials now required – four on the pitch and two in the VAR operating room – Nazeer stressed that the current number is sufficient for the 2023 season.
Nazeer, who was a professional referee from 1993 to 2010 before he joined FAS, said the tight timeline was a challenge for the team as they had less than a year to train referees and to put everything in place.
He said: “The main issue we had was that the World Cup was happening in December. We were worried that Fifa officials would be occupied and we would not be able to pass the VAR assessments in time for the SPL’s restart in February.
“Fortunately, Fifa was very supportive because they knew we put in a lot of effort... They managed to find time in January to conduct the assessments to give us feedback, which we can improve upon before the season begins.”
Through the Fifa Forward programme, the world governing body will fund up to 90 per cent of infrastructure costs for the implementation of VAR in Singapore.
This season, the VAR technology will use seven cameras at all five SPL stadiums, three more than Fifa’s minimum requirement of four.
A team of three – a replay operator, video assistant referee and assistant video assistant referee – will alert the match referee to reviewable incidents. As per Fifa rules, VAR will only be able to intervene in four major aspects of the game: goals, penalties, direct red cards and cases of mistaken identities.
For each SPL match, four officials will be at the match venue as per normal, while the VAR team will be based at the Jalan Besar Stadium’s video operating room. Live broadcast and communication will be fed from the match venue to the team.
To ensure reliability and limit disruption, the FAS are in the process of purchasing dedicated internal communication lines for all SPL stadiums and the two video operation rooms at Jalan Besar. These include Brunei DPMM’s homeground in Bandar Seri Begawan, where renovations will be completed in May.
While VAR has been in use in the English Premier League and other football tournaments like the World Cup, the technology has also come under fire previously.
Over the weekend, Professional Game Match Officials Limited, the body for match officials in English football, admitted two “significant errors” with VAR offside decisions, including one that went against Arsenal in the 1-1 draw with Brentford that could have implications on the Premier League title race.
Fans here would understandably have some reservations about VAR but Nazeer said: “We have to manage our expectations. As with every technology, there will be hiccups along the way. This is something we are prepared to work on. It is still a work in progress.
“In the event that VAR is down, team captains and coaches will be notified and matches will still proceed as per usual. Fifa will still be guiding us for the next three seasons before they give their final approval, where we will run VAR on our own from the 2026 season.”
For this season, the SPL will not have goal-line technology or the virtual offside line – which gives viewers a clear image with lines drawn for tight offside decisions – which are separate from VAR. There are plans to implement the virtual offside line in the future, said FAS.
Despite the criticism of VAR, Geylang International head coach Noor Ali welcomes the technology, saying: “Hopefully it will cut out arguments with the referee. But whether it is going to work or not we don’t know. I still think it is a good step for the league because the players work so hard and sometimes small details can change outcomes of games.”
Nazeer added: “We are very confident that bringing VAR to Singapore will boost the standard of football and officiating as well as the players’ behavioural standards. We believe this will help Singapore football in the long run.“
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