PETALING JAYA: The introduction and implementation of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system in the Malaysian Football League (MFL) next season will cost a whopping RM9.7 million said the MFL.
MFL chief executive officer Datuk Stuart Ramalingam said for the subsequent year, the cost for the technology will be in the region of RM3.2 million.
“The initial cost is high due to the installation of the equipment and system. It’s an infrastructure investment, so it’s a fixed cost that we need to invest in for the first year but the second year onwards it’s about RM3.2 million. This is not including the additional broadcast cameras if we need to add on.
“The first year we will start with six cameras and from the savings, we may be able to add more cameras at a higher cost,” he told reporters at Wisma Persatuan Bolasepak Malaysia (FAM), Kelana Jaya, here on Friday.
Stuart said the MFL had decided to introduce the VAR for matches under its jurisdication.
“MFL has 240 matches per season, that is our target. So if we do implement it, we try to implement for all 240 matches,” he said adding that the entire cost of implementing the VAR would be borne by the MFL.
The VAR technology was first used in Malaysia during the 2022 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) final between Kuala Lumpur City FC and Al-Seeb from Oman at the National Stadium Nasional in Bukit Jalil last October and was fully handled by the AFC.
The FAM had initially hoped to use the VAR during the 2023 Malaysia Cup final at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Dec 9.
Meanwhile, Stuart said the cost of renting the VAR system and appointing a foreign referee qualified to manage the technology during the 2023 Malaysia Cup final would be too high.
He said that the league planned to use local expertise and needed to spend wisely to implement the use of VAR in the M-League, and the use of VAR in the final would be determined after the completion of a VAR course involving local referees in December.
“The main constraints are limited budget and resources. VAR has not been used since the first time during the 2022 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup final in Bukit Jalil and I believe that the AFC spent over a hundred thousand to rent and install the VAR there. So, we need to be prudent to implement it right,” he said.
The suggestion to rent the VAR and appoint a foreign referee for the Malaysia Cup final was brought up after Stuart previously said that there were issues with using VAR, including infrastructure, internet coverage and the availability of local referees.
Stuart, together with Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) secretary-general Datuk Noor Azman Rahman, had earlier visited the second phase of VAR training session involving 40 local referees and 14 relay operators here.
“On FAM’s side, we just prepare referees – 20 referees, 20 assistant referees and 14 relay operators – all of them will undergo three phases of courses, which is currently at the second phase.
“The third phase is in November and December, then we will wait for Fifa’s assessment of our suggested referees in March next year,” Noor Azman said.
