'VAR is not coming': McKenzie now tells parliament funding still being finalised
There will be no video assistant referee (VAR) during the coming Betway Premiership season.
In his budget vote speech to parliament on Tuesday, sport, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie said nothing has been finalised when it comes to how VAR is going to be funded.
Last month, the department of sport said in a response to a parliamentary question it would pay for the long-awaited introduction of VAR, adding R90m had been set aside in its budget for that purpose, but six weeks later McKenzie has changed his tune.
'We are also finalising the process of funding VAR to ensure that football matches, from the Premier Soccer League through to the international fixtures we host, are fairer and meet global standards,' he said.
'It is a necessity. We see stadiums vandalised when bad refereeing happens and the success of teams like Mamelodi Sundowns make global teams want to play here, but they get second thoughts because we don't have VAR.'
McKenzie reiterated his belief that the South African public desires to host a Formula One grand prix in the country.
'To those who say the country can't afford to host the F1, I am saying the country can't afford not to. When you set the bar high for a country, as we have in the past, you can't afford to take the bar back down.
'We hosted the best Fifa World Cup [in 2010]. We put our country on the map for big events and should not turn back now,' he said, adding the government would not have to foot the bill.
'Companies like MTN, MultiChoice, Heineken and many more have raised their hands and said, 'Here we are, thuma rona [send us].'
'They will be present with us in the meeting with Formula One at the end of the month. We have even had patriots like Johann Rupert who have told us, 'Scream for help if all else fails.' So we know we will succeed.
'Those who are saying Formula One is not important should consider all the countries who are holding on to their F1 spots on the calendar. They see the value in it and it can't be called a world championship if it misses an entire continent, Sub-Saharan Africa in particular.'
McKenzie also said as part of investing in and cultivating domestic talent, the department has allocated more than R627m through the conditional grant to support sports federations in the 2025-26 financial year.
The money will be for employment, equipment and attire for schools, clubs and hubs, training through coaching, technical officiating and administration courses.
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