KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Football League (MFL) have said improvements will be made for the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system for use in the upcoming Malaysia League 2025-2026 season after several controversial incidents during its introduction last season.
Acting MFL chief executive officer Mohd Shazli Shaik Mohd said two special briefings regarding the improvement of the system were conducted by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) together with representatives of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the International Football Federation (FIFA).
According to him, this is a step to improve the quality of refereeing ahead of the new season starting in August.
“The improvements are not yet in place, but we are aware of it (the issue) because last year was the first time VAR was implemented.
“So from the issues we identified last year, we will improve it for the new season,” he said recently.
Last year, FAM referees committee chairman Datuk S. Sivasundaram said the performance of the referees and the implementation of VAR were rated as excellent, with an average of 0.57 ‘On-field Review’ (OFR) per match and an average of 2.27 minutes of added time used for VAR reviews.
However, several errors sparked criticism, including after referee Razlan Joffri Ali and a VAR official were suspended for two matches after the Super League match between Perak and Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT).
Razlan, however, came in for high praise for his excellent refereeing in the 2024-2025 Malaysia Cup final between JDT and Pahang, which the Southern Tigers won 2-1.
Shazli said the MFL are also now on the right track to ensure that the new season runs smoothly and is free from scheduling delays like those that occurred last season.
Therefore, according to him, the full schedule of the new M-League season will be announced after several important elements, such as the Shopee Cup draw and Asian Champions League (ACL), are finalised. — Bernama
