KUALA LUMPUR – The use of video assistant referees (VAR) was one of the top agenda items discussed by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin in his meeting with International Football Federation (FIFA) Referees Committee chairman Pierluigi Collina at the 73rd FIFA Congress in Kigali, Rwanda yesterday.
According to a FAM statement today, Collina suggested to Hamidin whether to use Full VAR or VAR Light in the local football scene.
“Collina explained the two types of VAR that we can choose from, namely Full VAR, which is equipped with a minimum of eight cameras, or VAR Light, which has less than eight cameras. Even though Collina suggested the use of Full VAR, he explained that VAR Light can also be used as an introduction as it is 50% cheaper.
“But Collina warned that the quality is definitely different from Full VAR,” said Hamidin who attended the congress as a member of the FIFA Council in the statement.
He said following the proposal in Kigali, he said FAM will hold further discussions with the Malaysian Football League together with the FIFA Referees unit regarding the introduction of VAR to local football.
In the meantime, Hamidin as a member of the FIFA Council also met several international football leaders and discussed sending national footballers to foreign clubs and Tier 1 FIFA international matches.
“At this meeting, we discussed the potential of bilateral cooperation, especially for the national team, to hold friendly matches abroad, including in Fiji, Montenegro, Cyprus, Sierra Leone, and Rwanda.
“We are also discussing in detail with the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Japan, and South Korea about sending quality players to play in these countries’ leagues,” he said.
Hamidin also attended the FIFA Council meeting on Tuesday together with several big names in the world football arena, including UAE FA president Sheikh Rashid Al Nuaimi; Saudi Arabia Football Federation president Yasser Al Misehal, and Japan FA president Kohzo Tashima.
Other FIFA Council members who attended the meeting were Montenegro FA president Dejan Savicevic, Cyprus FA president George Koumas, Fiji FA president Rajesh Patel, Qatar FA secretary-general Mansour al-Ansari, and Isha Johansen, a FIFA Council member and member of the FIFA Foundation Board of Directors. – Bernama, March 17, 2023
