Football Association of Malawi (Fam) President Fleetwood Haiya is confident that his association will purchase Video Assistant Referee (VAR) tools next year.
Speaking during the 2024 Airtel Top 8 Awards ceremony held at Ryalls Hotel in Blantyre on Wednesday night, Haiya said there was a need for the association to secure the much-anticipated technology.
Haiya said they intended to install the facility at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
“What is pleasing is that local referees already underwent VAR training. As such, we do not expect to face any challenge in the operation of this facility once it is installed. In our 2025-26 budget, we will include the purchase of VAR [tools] as one way of making sure that we move with technology in the game.
“This is another way of implementing our ‘Transforming the Game’ agenda. You may need to recall that Malawi was the first country in Africa where match officials were trained in how to use VAR. So I do not think there will be many problems once we start using it,” he said.
On his part, National Football Referees Association (NFRA) General Secretary Christopher Kalichero commended Fam for the initiative, saying football was now becoming advanced.
Kalichero said the move would also help stakeholders improve the standards of officiation.
“It is, indeed, important to have VAR here in Malawi. Our referees have been undergoing training in Egypt on the same and they know how to operate it. So, to hear that next year we might have this technology is a welcome development,” Kalichero said.
Cases of poor officiation have been on the rise in the TNM Super League and other competitions, resulting into violence during some matches.
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