KUALA LUMPUR: The FA of Malaysia (FAM) are seen to be taking a very cautious approach by not being in a rush to implement the use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for the Malaysia League competition.
FAM secretary-general Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin said even though initially at the beginning the national footballing body were planning to use the system, however now they need to wait and see the overall evaluation of the system by Fifa and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) before making a decision.
“We will wait first and see after next year’s World Cup in Russia because we need to get feedback from Fifa and AFC since this system has just been introduced.
“After we get the necessary feedback and we can see for ourselves that this system is indeed beneficial to all parties, then we will go ahead and implement it.
“However for the time being, I am unsure about the exact timeframe for us to put the system in use,” he said when met at an FAM event for referees in Kelana Jaya here tonight.
Based on initial planning, FAM planned on using VAR for next season’s M-League, however they have have postponed such a move because they want to see how well the system works when it is put to use for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Prior to this, FAM’s Referees Committee chairman, Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh explained that they were gathering information and carrying out an in depth study on the system encompassing aspects such as getting the views and opinions from a few professional parties, including the Malaysian Football Coaches Association (PJBSM).
VAR is a video system that enables referees to to view incidents that they were not able to see or notice which happens on the field of play in ensuring that they are able to make the right decision.
This system was first used professionally in competitive football in Australia’s A-League and Major League Soccer (MLS) in the United States before popular, well-known European leagues such as Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A, and Portugal’s Liga Primeira put it to use, and it has been described as worthwhile technology that has managed to improve the quality of refereeing.