South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, has given the South African Football Association 21 days to refund approximately $730,000 allocated by the government for the implementation of the Video Assistant Referee system.
McKenzie made the demand after the South African Sports Awards at Sun City over the weekend, expressing frustration that the VAR project had not been delivered despite government funding.
The minister said he had formally written to SAFA demanding the return of the money, while the football body subsequently requested a 21-day grace period.
“I wrote SAFA a letter requesting them to return my money; they then asked for 21 days’ grace. I am angry because what else can I do?” McKenzie said.
According to the minister, the government had taken several steps to facilitate the introduction of VAR, including funding trips to Spain and the United Kingdom for journalists, football administrators and members of the VAR research team to examine different systems.
“FIFA’s rules state clearly that VAR must be implemented through SAFA. I took journalists, administrators and the VAR research team to Spain and the UK for them to compare which option is the best one for us. I then allocated approximately $730 000 to SAFA. I can’t do more as the minister,” McKenzie said.
McKenzie also alleged that some individuals within SAFA were deliberately frustrating efforts to introduce the technology, accusing certain officials of corruption.
“All the problems at SAFA are blamed on Danny Jordaan, but there are people within that organisation that are gatekeepers and are corrupt, and they simply don’t want VAR to happen,” McKenzie said.
“What is stopping this thing? What is stopping VAR?”
The minister, however, defended SAFA president Danny Jordaan, insisting that the delays should not be blamed entirely on him.
“I can tell you now it’s not Danny Jordaan, it’s other individuals there that are blocking this thing and I will name them soon enough,” McKenzie said.
McKenzie rejected concerns that involving FIFA in the dispute would amount to political interference in football administration.
He maintained that recovering the government’s money was his immediate priority and said he was prepared to deal with any consequences if the matter was taken to FIFA, football’s world governing body.
