A new kind of equipment in football could help give the Philippines Football League (PFL) not only a modern feel but also improve the officiating of the matches.
The Football Video System (FVS) was presented at the 74th International Football Federation (FIFA) Congress in Bangkok last May as a possible alternative for countries who could not afford to use the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system used in major tournaments.
It was tested during the FIFA Youth Cup from 8 to 9 May and FIFA referees committee chairman Pierluigi Collina was happy to report its success.
“We had two tournaments, one for the male and one for the female, with 36 matches staged in two different pitches. Those pitches were set up with two different camera plans because in reality, matches are operated with cameras but also automated cameras,” Collina said.
“One pitch had three cameras with one operator while the second pitch had seven cameras but no operator. The outcome during the video was very positive.”
“The system works with the footage ingested in the system in the computer and we have a review operator on the pitch to check on the field of play.”
Unlike VAR, FVS would function similarly like the one used in the Philippine Basketball Association where each team is given two attempts to call out clear violations in pitch.
Challenging the referee’s decision can only be done by only being done by the head coaches of each squad and if successful, each coaches’ attempts will not be taken.
PFL commissioner Coco Torre told DAILY TRIBUNE that is something they need to study further but is open to the idea of it.
“For now, there’s no concrete discussion on what the direction is, whether it’s video support or VAR. But all I can say is, we are very open to adapting this kind of technological support to our officiating,” Torre said.
“But we couldn’t say if we opt to use FVS or just go for VAR because videos could not be sufficient enough that we could just resort to using VAR.”
Of course, all I’m saying is our current referees, they work hard to train, to study, to enhance themselves but definitely we want to equip them more by using this technology. So definitely the direction is towards adaptation of technology, if you ask me.”
VAR made an impact on the game when the whole world got to see it in action in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, allowing players and coaches alike to ask referees to have a second look at offenses.
Since then, top competitions such as the Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga and the UEFA Champions League have used the VAR in the games, prompting various leagues around the world to use it as well.
VAR was also a crucial part in the Filipinas’ 1-0 win over New Zealand in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the first for the Philippines in any World Cup competition.
Torre has seen how VAR worked during the three home games of Kaya FC-Iloilo in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Even the upcoming Shopee Cup, where Kaya will be playing, will have VAR as well.
Getting VAR to be implemented in the Philippines will be easier said than done as Malaysian site The Vibes reported last year that it costs around $5.4 million to have VAR in one season of the Malaysian Super League, which is roughly P317 million.
Still, Torre said he is open for suggestions in making sure that the PFL will be more advanced in officiating.
“For me, that will be the standard eventually because you can see that VAR is really valuable, especially in the league, our referees are only humans, right?” Torre said.
“We can never be 100 percent correct all the time. We don’t have any benefit in hindsight if there’s no VAR, right? So we can see the benefits, especially for non-calls, penalties, red cards, offsides, and so on.”