VAR in NPFL: Sports analyst weighs timing, expectations, pitfalls

It could be a matter of time before we see the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in the Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL).

In the last week, the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Gusau, vowed to ensure that VAR is introduced in the domestic league.

“I can assure you that VAR will be effectively put into use in our domestic football before the end of my first tenure as president of the Nigeria Football Federation in 2026.

“It will be gradual, but we will surely get there,” Gusau stated.

Solace Chukwu, the Chief Editor for Pulse Sports, tells DAILY POST that Gusau is muddling up his list of priorities.

“The league’s current broadcast arrangement is mostly a one-camera set-up.

“Talk of VAR is a classic case of putting the cart before the horse, before we even get to the philosophical arguments for and against the concept,” Chukwu said.

Gusau, during his remarks, noted that the NFF will start the process of introducing VAR into Nigerian football by sending some referees to countries that have already put VAR into practice to study its application and usage.

Chukwu added: “It is rather interesting. Because, in top-five leagues like the English Premier League with its multi-camera coverage and sufficient budgeting, the challenges with VAR abound.

“Four years after it was introduced into the English top flight, the technology has now seemingly become the main talking point rather than the football itself.

“For days after a match, erroneous decisions are rigorously dissected in press conferences and painstakingly examined in newspaper columns.

“The matches, the players, the tactics and even the league table are becoming a sidenote, overshadowed by the controversy that inevitably comes with an imperfect system.”

“In much the same ways, except in the climate of the NPFL, there does not exist the same assumption and goodwill when it comes to refereeing, so there will be significantly less trust in the process overall.

“Also, technological and capacity deficits (remember, there has not been a Nigerian referee at major international tournaments for a long time now) mean there is little to look forward to, and that we can expect it to be handled extremely clumsily to boot,” he added.