Video Assistant Referee Approved for the Egyptian Premier League

The Ministry of Sports and Youth, Ashraf Sobhy,  announced yesterday that they have officially approved the use of Video Assistant Referee for the Egyptian Premier League.

During the announcement, the Minister explained that they finalized a deal with a foreign company to rent the VAR technology machines for three and a half years, after which they will own the technology.

The foreign company will also be responsible for overseeing the implementation of VAR during the three and a half year period. During a recent television appearance, the Egyptian Football Association member Mohamed Fadl claimed that “The EFA will pay all the costs of the VAR technology, and a trainer for referees will arrive in Cairo 12 January to train 54 referees. After 28 days of training, we will be ready to use the technology.”

There’s no mention of an exact date when the technology will go into action, but Fadl revealed that “VAR technology will be officially used when the second round of the league starts.” In the past few seasons, Egyptian referees have come under scrutiny over obvious mistakes that overshadowed several games. The hope is that implementing VAR will eliminate these mistakes as well as the fury directed towards referees for their controversial decisions.

 Do you think implementing VAR will improve the Egyptian Premier League? Let us know in the comments below.