KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysia Football League (MFL) is set to host a series of friendly tournaments among Malaysia Super League clubs to test the efficiency of the video assistant referee (VAR) system for this season.
The introduction and implementation of the VAR system this season are estimated to have cost the MFL a whopping RM9.7 million.
Speaking to Scoop, MFL chief executive officer Datuk Stuart Ramalingam said that the series of friendly tournaments is expected to take place after Aidilfitri break and before the Super League kicks off in May.
“We have planned several friendly series of matches involving clubs in the Super League for now.
“MFL has already installed the VAR system in all stadiums participating in the league, so now it’s our job to ensure that the system can work well with the stadium’s infrastructure.
“These friendly games including VAR are needed as we can also prepare ourselves for damage limitation in the future.
“For now, Sri Pahang FC, Kelantan Darul Naim FC, and Terengganu FC have agreed to a VAR friendly tournament.
“Sabah FC, together with Kuala Lumpur City FC, has also agreed to hold a friendly VAR tournament at Likas and the Cheras football stadiums,” said Stuart when contacted.
At the same time, Stuart also said that the governing body is ready to face the challenges that the VAR system will provide through its implementation in the days to come.
“We are ready for everything as we understand that the implementation of VAR is somewhat subjective and we can’t say that it will entirely bring a positive outcome to the Malaysian football landscape.
“We have seen the outcomes of implementing the system across the world and the kinds of problems it has created in the past one to two years.
“However, we want to evolve and not stay stagnant. Football in our country needs to be modernised, and our governing body has been doing its best to provide the best for the league and the clubs.
“But no matter what happens, we will continue with our initiatives and ensure that we keep trying our best for the betterment of local football with all the latest technologies available for football,” Stuart added.
VAR was used for the first time in Malaysia when KL City FC took on Oman’s Al Seeb in the AFC Cup final at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil in 2022.
However, the system was brought in by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) just for the final that year.
Recently, Singapore became the tenth affiliate under AFC to introduce VAR when the S-league kicked off this season.
The other AFC affiliates that have implemented the use of VAR in their leagues are Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates.
VAR requires eight cameras and good internet connectivity at venues, while a match using the system needs at least six officials. – April 4, 2024
