Sports & Fitness

FAM looking into VAR adoption, says sec-gen

Football body to study financial aspects, implications of technology

Updated 4 years ago · Published on 27 Oct 2022 5:28PM

FAM looking into VAR adoption, says sec-gen — Football Association of Malaysia secretary-general Noor Azman Rahman (left) signs a memorandum of understanding with HP Malaysia managing director Alex Tan (right) at Wisma FAM, here, today. Football Association of Malaysia marketing and sponsorship committee chairman Datuk Seri Shahril Mokhtar is standing in the middle. – Bernama pic, October 27, 2022

by Saktesh Subramaniam

KUALA LUMPUR – The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) will need to further study the financial aspects of implementing the video assistant referee (VAR) in the local football scene, said its secretary-general Noor Azman Rahman.

Noor Azman said the use of VAR for the first time in Malaysia during the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup final between Kuala Lumpur City FC and Omani side Al-Seeb at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium has shown promise.

“There were no issues during that match, which is a good sign.

“But we need to see the costs of implementing the system, whether it would be more financially beneficial to either buy or rent the VAR,” he said at Wisma FAM today.

Noor Azman said FAM had already gotten briefings on VAR from FIFA-authorised companies Mediapro and Hawk-Eye previously, with the former operating the VAR system during the AFC Cup Final.

“The main matter that we need to finalise is the costs. We do want to use VAR, but we also need to take into account its suitability in the local scene,” he added.

Recently, FIFA technical instructor and former national referee Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh revealed that Malaysia missed the opportunity to send a referee for the 2022 Qatar World Cup due to not having a VAR licence.

Malaysian Football League chief executive officer Stuart Ramalingam said VAR will not be used in matches locally any time soon due to most stadiums not having the infrastructure to implement the technology.

Meanwhile, Noor Azman said FAM will decide on the venue for the upcoming Asean Football Federation (AFF) Cup matches by Saturday, October 27.

“We hope to have a decision by Saturday, there are just a few more matters for us to finalise.”

He said the Petaling Jaya City Council Stadium and Kuala Lumpur Stadium in Cheras are also listed as possible alternative venues.

This comes after FAM said they were considering several alternative stadiums other than the Bukit Jalil National Stadium for the upcoming AFF Cup.

Malaysia will begin their AFF Cup campaign against Myanmar on December 21. – The Vibes, October 27, 2022.