KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia Stadium Corporation (PSM) plans to equip the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil with fully specified Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology so that the Harimau Malaya home ground will be world-class.
PSM chief executive officer Mohd Faidz Sanusi said the use of VAR, equipped with a minimum of eight cameras, is deemed suitable for the National Stadium, which is the country’s main football venue.
“We have plans to install VAR, so it (PSM) is ready to host any international or local tournaments. If there is an allocation and (we) get sufficient funds, we have plans to install VAR at the National Stadium.
“We will opt for higher specification and of world standard. That is why if we want to do something, let’s follow the international standard, especially the assets under the PSM,” he told Bernama.
He said he is also ready to hold discussions with PSM board members and the Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) regarding the cost of using VAR, which is said to be as high as more than RM500,000.
According to him, the National Stadium must be the best venue, besides being a benchmark for other stadiums in Malaysia.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) had previously confirmed that the VAR would be introduced this year in the Malaysia League (M-League), with the FA Cup and Malaysia Cup being used as a trial.
Last week, the use of VAR was one of the top agendas discussed by FAM president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin in his meeting with FIFA Referees Committee chairman Pierluigi Collina at the 73rd FIFA Congress in Kigali, Rwanda.
At the meeting, Collina proposed to Hamidin to use either the Full VAR (minimum eight cameras) or VAR Light (fewer than eight cameras) for the local football scene. – Bernama
