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SOCIAL media this week went into overdrive following reports that Zifa normalisation committee chairman Lincoln Mutasa announced that the country will introduce video assistant referee technology (VAR) next year.
The interpretation was that domestic football will have VAR from next season and fans were justifiably questioning the possibility of such a transition happening in a few weeks when better leagues, including the South African Premier Soccer League, were still to introduce the technology.
With all its resources and ability to cover all matches on TV, the South African Premiership is yet to introduce VAR even though plans are at an advanced stage amid indications it will be ready when the 2024/25 season starts in August.
In Zimbabwe there, currently, is no equipment to have television coverage of all matches simultaneously while none of the stadiums meet CAF requirements meaning we have too many challenges to deal with before we consider using the VAR technology in our domestic football.
However, what circulated on social media was somewhat a distortion of what Mutasa spoke about.
Mutasa was addressing referees who were undergoing training and challenging them to be able to use VAR technology and position themselves for consideration at the 2026 Fifa World Cup.
“Next year they will bring that Video Assistant Referee vehicle to train our referees. We don’t want you [referees] to be left behind as we go to the 2026 [FIFA] World Cup,” he said.
So it was wrong to say Mutasa said VAR will be used in Zimbabwe next year with regards the domestic Premier Soccer League as there are no resources for such an operation.
As things stand, we are still very far from the VAR technology.
But that should not stop our matches officials from undergoing training on how to use the VAR technology as they are now back on the international scene and will be considered for international assignments.
While the Fifa World Cup in 2026 is the ultimate goal for Mutasa and team in their planning, there will be immediate opportunities in inter-club competitions like the CAF Champions League, CAF Confederation Cup, CHAN and other tournaments.
But while the Zifa NC leadership is keen on equipping local referees with the skills to handle VAR, it seems there is a more pressing and urgent issue on the domestic scene.
It seems refereeing standards have now hit rock bottom, especially in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League.
Complaints against referees are growing by every match and more worrying is the fact that match officials can easily win the monthly player awards on current form, deservedly getting credit for most of the goals being scored in the Premiership run in.
The match officials are fully aware that the referee’s decision is final and, as such, there will never be a reversal of whatever they would have decided in the local game due to the unavailability of the VAR technology.
They know they can easily get away with murder because there is no technology to facilitate reviews and in most cases match officials are never punished for poor performances as is the case in other leagues on the continent and overseas.
When match officials perform badly, it sometimes triggers actions and reactions that bring the game of football into disrepute which, in turn, chases away the few corporate sponsors that local football has managed to attract.
Effects of bad officiating are far reaching and the biggest loser will be football in the country.
As the Zifa NC works with referees in embracing VAR, there should be a commitment to grooming and promoting competent referees for the upcoming seasons.
However, it is equally important that the clubs update their understanding of the laws of the game.
As the game evolves, there are regular changes to the laws and trouble comes when club officials and players are not up to date.
Wrong interpretation of the laws of the game is one of the reasons club officials, coaches, players and supporters attack match officials who would have, otherwise, applied the updated laws correctly.
As such, it is not every complaint against the match officials that proves that the match officials are poor or corrupt. Some complaints are misplaced and probably triggered by an undesirable outcome, especially towards the end of campaigns.
Just as they facilitate the training of referees whenever there are changes to the laws of the game, Zifa should include clubs in similar but separate training so that everyone is on the same page to avoid unnecessary attacks on match officials.
Even outside of the changes of the laws, match officials are also human beings who are bound to make mistakes.
That is why even in the English Premier League, the most popular and one of the most watched domestic leagues, match officials make mistakes week in, week out yet they have use of the VAR technology.
Our officials are also vulnerable to such errors.
However, the bottom line is that the refereeing standards should improve across the board for the betterment of the game and Zifa have the biggest role to play.
Online Reporter