PETALING JAYA, Oct 27 — The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) are committed to upholding the quality of local referees, including efforts to introduce Video Assistance Referee (VAR) technology in future Malaysia League (M-League) matches.
FAM secretary-general Noor Azman Rahman said they had recently held a meeting with two VAR operating companies, namely Hawk-Eye Innovations and Mediapro, to get details regarding the technology that is currently being widely used at the international level.
At the meeting, the FAM, through the Referees’ Committee, had heard the presentation of the two companies and took note of several important elements relating to VAR, including its maintenance costs.
“We are now at the finalisation stage in terms of cost and whether to purchase it or rent it. We will leave it to the Referees’ Committee to evaluate.
“FAM see the use (of VAR) as necessary but we have to look at it in terms of need,” he said when met after announcing the collaboration between FAM and HP Malaysia at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya, earlier today.
Hawk-Eye Innovations and Mediapro are no strangers to VAR technology as their expertise is much sought-after in the top leagues in Europe and world-level competitions.
Yesterday, Bernama reported that Malaysian referees would have to forgo their dream of getting a mandate to be involved in the world’s most prestigious football competitions if they do not have a VAR licence.
This is because stricter conditions and criteria have been set by FIFA to appoint referees who have VAR-related experience as the technology is widely used internationally now.
In a report, Fifa Technical Instructor and former national referee Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh revealed to Bernama that Malaysia missed the opportunity to nominate one of its best male referees for duty at the 2022 World Cup because he did not have a VAR licence.
Commenting on the revelation by the former FAM Referees’ Committee chairman, Noor Azman said he would try to get the report and confirmation from the current committee chairman Datuk S. Sivasundaram.
In March 2020, FAM launched the Malaysia Professional Referee System (MProRS) with the mission of making local referees a benchmark in Asia and saw three local referees given a mandate in the 2026 World Cup campaign.
The VAR technology was first used in Malaysia during the AFC Cup final between KL City FC and Omani club Al-Seeb at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on October 22, with it being fully managed by AFC (Asian Football Confederation).
On Tuesday (October 25), Malaysian Football League (MFL) chief executive officer Stuart Ramalingam said the use of VAR in M-League competitions still required in-depth study before it can be widely used.
— Bernama
