SOUTH African football season braced for another season without VAR.
Safa head of referees Abdul Ebrahim has revealed that it may take another full season of training to roll out the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, confirming that the technology will not be implemented during the upcoming 2026/27 campaign.
Minister of Sports Gayton McKenzie revealed earlier this year that the government had transferred funds to Safa for the rollout of VAR in South African football specifically targeting the top flight.
Safa, through its finance national executive committee led by Mxolisi Sibam, later confirmed that they had received the funds and placed them in a ring-fenced account.
However, speaking at the Southern Sun Hotel in Pretoria on Thursday afternoon – following the conclusion of the 2026 Fifa Elite Program, a preseason referees' workshop conducted by Safa in collaboration with FIFA – Ebrahim made it clear that they are not ready to deploy the technology just yet.
