80 MALAYSIA LEAGUE MATCHES USE VAR - SIVASUNDARAM

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 (Bernama) -- A total of 80 matches involving the Super League, Malaysia Cup, FA Cup and Challenge Cup for the 2024-2025 season have used video assistant referee (VAR) so far.

Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) referees’ committee chairman, Datuk S. Sivasundaram said the referee's performance and handling of VAR was rated as excellent, with an average of 0.57 'On-field Review' (OFR) per match and an average of 2.27 minutes of additional time used for VAR review.

"According to the guidelines of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the number of OFRs and extra time 'VAR Review' in our league is at the lowest level.

"This means that the use of VAR in the Malaysian League is currently on the best track as per the standard of VAR operation set by FIFA," he said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, Sivasundaram said FAM and the Malaysian Football League (MFL) will begin the '2nd Batch' of VAR training starting in October 2024 and expected to end in February 2025.

He said the line-up of VAR referees in the second phase is made up of young and potential referees and assistant referees.

"A total of 21 referees will be trained as VAR referees, 21 assistant referees as 'Assistant Video Assistant Referee' (AVAR) and 12 people trained as 'Replay Operators' (RO).

"This time three female referees will also be called to participate in this exercise, namely Nurul Ain Izzatty Zainal as VAR referee, Nur Akmal Anuar and Munirah Ha Ali as AVAR referee. These three are recognised as 'AFC Women Elite Referee'," he said.

According to him, every referee development programme and its operation is based on the benchmarks set by AFC and the International Football Federation (FIFA).

"Accordingly, the implementation of the referee development programme and Video Assistant Referee (VAR) operation in the Malaysian League is based on the operational standards and VAR protocol recognised by FIFA.

"FAM will always continue with measures to strengthen the quality and dignity of football referees," he said.

Meanwhile, Sivasundaram also congratulated national referee Muhammad Nazmi Nasaruddin on his outstanding performance in refereeing local and international football matches.

-- BERNAMA