Legendary Retired Referee Victor Gomes Says South Africa Needs VAR

• The movement to implement VAR in South African football continues to gain momentum
• Recently-retired referee Victor Gomes has lent weight to wheels moving demand forward
• Gomes was one of South Africa's officials representatives at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar

It appears that the video assistant referee (VAR) will be implemented in South African football, judging by the growing pressure to do so.

Retired refereeing great Victor Gomes was blunt in his assessment, saying it was becoming increasingly difficult to justify not having the technology active in the DStv Premiership.

He got to use VAR to good effect at the recent 2022 FIFA World Cup, where it was critical in the improved decision-making of officials.

Speaking to Robert Marawa on Marawa Sports Worldwide, as reported by SowetanLIVE, Gomes explained:

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“VAR is here to stay. We need it. We cannot continue without VAR. It is the future. We have been told by our international bosses that it’s the future and it will remain, and it’s just a matter of time before it comes to South Africa."

Discussing load-shedding and possible interference, Gomes explained that during the World Cup, additional people were stationed at the venue in case the power went out.

"In the event there was an outage, it would take two or three minutes for the next crew to be on par while the referee continued, so the game would not have to stop," he added.

Gomes was in charge of France's 4-1 victory over Australia, as well as Japan upsetting Spain 2-1 while out in the Middle East. He was also the fourth in the classic quarter-final between eventual champions Argentina and the Netherlands.

Gomes hangs up the whistle

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If there is a perfect time to call it quits, do so after doing an excellent job at the FIFA World Cup, Sports Brief has reported.

A strict, respected, feared and revered whistle-man has done just that. Victor Gomes retired shortly after returning from impressing in his duties at the 2022 edition in Qatar.

Gomes represented the continent alongside compatriot Zakhele Siwela, Janny Sikazwe (Zambia), Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria), Salima Mukansanga (Rwanda), Bakary Gassama (Gambia) and Maguette Ndiaye (Senegal).