Jordaan: VAR won't settle disputes

SAFA President Dr. Danny Jordaan has discussed why the VAR won't settle debates such as penalty incidents that happened in the MTN8 final between Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates.

Referee Abongile Tom had two big calls to make in the MTN8 final, after awarding Pirates a penalty early in the second stanza in what appeared to be a shoulder-to-shoulder nudge by Teboho Mokoena on Yanela Mbuthuma.

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The final that Sundowns won 2-0 ended in controversy, after The Brazilians were given what looked like a soft penalty in stoppage time, after Siyanda Ndlovu tumbled innocuously inside the box from a tussle with Thapelo Mokobodi.

At a media briefing of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, who invited SAFA to give their own update on the implementation of VAR, Jordaan suggested what would be the main scope and benefits of the review technology.

"VAR won't settle the disputes, whether it was a penalty or not. You saw even in the World Cup, they showed VAR over and over and they still had a debate. You're not going to stop debating. If it was a penalty or not, VAR is not going to convince them. VAR will assist them," Jordaan said.

"What is important in VAR, if you look at it, why was Themba Zwane sent off (at the 2026 FIFA World Cup)? The referee did not see it. VAR brought the attention to the referee. So that is why we're saying the modernization of football, very soon players in the PSL, in the NFD, will understand that no longer can I kick the player behind the referees' eyes.

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"Because a lot of injuries occur when players think that the referee is not looking, so there will be a 360 (degree) view of the match by the referee and VAR and that will help to protect the players and to modernize the game," Jordaan added.

There was exactly the same incident in the MTN8 final, where Mbuthuma kicked Sundowns midfielder Tashreeq Matthews behind the back of Tom, who did not see the off-the-ball incident, described afterwards as "violent conduct" by former FIFA referee Victor Hlungwani, who suggested that the former Richards Bay striker should have been sent off in the SABC Sport's Soccer Zone review show.