Video assistant referee (VAR) has to come to South Africa, and the reality is at some stage it will, South Africa’s World Cup referee Victor Gomes has said.

Gomes and assistant referee Zakhele Siwela represented South Africa at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, which ended on Sunday with a superb final at Lusail Stadium where Argentina beat France on penalties.

Gomes was asked on Marawa Sports Worldwide about challenges in South Africa in implementing VAR, given many stadiums do not have backup generators, which can open the technological system to abuse, and the associated challenges that arise from load-shedding.

 “VAR is here to stay. We need it. We cannot continue without VAR,” Gomes said.

“It is the future. We have been told by our international bosses that it’s the future and it will remain and it’s just a matter of time before it comes to South Africa.

“Regarding load-shedding and how it interferes, at the World Cup we had additional people situated at a venue that, in the event there was an outage, it would take two or three minutes for the next crew to be on par while the referee continued. So the game would not have to stop.

“These are things we need to consider. But we are not the first. We have countries like Holland doing it, many European countries doing it already and with our infrastructure it can be done.

“I think the media need to inform the public more. I think there are a lot of misconceptions on VAR.”

Gomes explained some of the intricacies of VAR.

The SA referee blew two World Cup matches – the Group D game where France beat Australia 4-1 at Al Janoub Stadium on November 22 and the Group E clash where Japan upset Spain 2-1 at Khalifa International Stadium on December 1.

He was the fourth official in the quarterfinal match between Netherlands and Argentina at Lusail Stadium on December 9.

“This dream started when I was a little boy. I was always inspired to get to a World Cup,” he said.

“I’m truly blessed and grateful God has given me this opportunity.

“It’s been a long journey. I had to fight hard, and I guess either I’m stubborn or stupid but I stuck to my dream and my passion.”

Gomes has refereed at the Olympic Games in Tokyo last year and  a Fifa Under-17 World Cup and this year blew the Africa Cup of Nations final where Senegal beat Egypt on penalties.

He said two years mostly away from home for his job has taken its toll, and indicated he would stand aside and make way for new blood after his World Cup success.

“I’ve done what I feel I needed to achieve. I believe I have done better than those who were before me and now I want the ones who come after me to do even more than what I did.”

On the same show Mario Leo, statistician and founder of RESULTS Sports, and football commentator Duane Dell'Oca discussed the World Cup final and the penalty given against France’s Ousmane Dembélé for clipping at the heels of Argentina’s Angel Di Maria.