KUALA LUMPUR – The use of video assistant referee (VAR) technology in the Malaysian League (M-League) competition has officially received recognition and approval from the world football governing body, FIFA.
It will be used in the league’s 2024/2025season, beginning May 10.
This was confirmed by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) deputy president Datuk S. Sivasundaram today, who described it as a proud moment for Malaysia to be among the 68 countries that have been recognised and approved by FIFA to use VAR.
He said the approval was given after a team of FIFA delegates led by its senior football technology strategy manager, Bhaveshan Moorghan and referee instructor Igor Rodajcic, assessed referees’ skills and the effectiveness of VAR technology in Malaysia last month.
“In his report, Bhaveshan praised the level of preparation and the existing skill levels of VAR referees in the country.
“This led to FIFA’s approval for the use of VAR technology in the M-League competition starting in 2024/2025, which will begin on May 10,” Sivasundaram said in a statement today.
The implementation of VAR in Malaysia began in April last year with a visit from FIFA delegates for briefings on VAR protocols and procedures.
Subsequently, FAM initiated VAR referee training in June 2023 until last April, going through three training phases before FIFA finally certified 22 referees as VAR referees, 20 assistant referees as AVAR (assistant video assistant referee), and nine referees as replay operators.
The governing body also trained 17 assistant referees to understand VAR protocols and will appoint them as assistant referees I and II.
Meanwhile, Sivasundaram said FAM will keep teaching VAR skills and conduct post-match analysis to improve the VAR system in the long run.
“FAM will also commence the second phase of VAR training to increase the number of VAR referees. This effort will begin soon,” said Sivasundaram, who is also FAM Referees Committee chairman.
In the meantime, he said the implementation of VAR in the M-League is expected to provide more opportunities for national referees to be selected for higher-level refereeing, such as the Asian Football Confederation and FIFA, besides being a move to improve the quality of national football.
A total of six trial matches were recently conducted by FAM and the Malaysian Football League, the administrators of M-League, to assess the skill levels of referees and the effectiveness of VAR technology. – May 2, 2024