KUALA LUMPUR: In efforts to implement the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology in the Malaysian Football League (MFL), twenty local referees are undergoing training under Phase Three of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology from November 20 to December 4.
The FA of Malaysia (FAM) shared in a Facebook posting that the training session is being held at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya and handled by six FAM instructors headed by C. Ravichandran and assisted by Kassim Kadir Bacha, Abdul Basith Shahul Hamid, Nagor Amir Noor Mohamed, Mohd Sabri Mat Daud and M. Sivanesan.
The training session will be under the tutelage of FIFA's VAR instructor, Igor Radojcic from Serbia.
According to the programme, the Phase Three of VAR training focuses on practical match sessions played at the Wisma FAM field and regarded as the most important phase in the exposure and implementation of VAR technology.
"The video recordings throughout Phase Three which will involve every referee, assistant referee and 'replay operator' in action must be sent to the FIFA platform for 'Implementation Assistance and Approval Programme Requirements' (IAAP)," said FAM in the Facebook posting.
The morning training session was also attended and witnessed by FAM deputy president Datuk S. Sivasundaram in his capacity as the FAM Referees Committee chairman as well as Malaysian Football League (MFL) President Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan who witnessed how the VAR technology was operated.
FAM had initially intended to use VAR for the M-League, especially the Malaysia Cup next month.
The VAR technology was used for the first time in Malaysia during the AFC Cup final between Kuala Lumpur and Omani club Al-Seeb at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil and fully handled by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). — BERNAMA
