"Bring back my money — the money of the state." That's South Africa's Minister of Sport, Gayton McKenzie, demanding SAFA return R30 million (roughly $1.87 million) in government funding that was supposed to bring VAR to the Premier Soccer League. It hasn't. And by the looks of it, it won't anytime soon.
McKenzie went public at the South African Sports Awards in Sun City, confirming the R30 million figure after earlier reports had cited R13 million. SAFA has been given 21 days to respond to his letter requesting the money back. The minister says he's already spoken to FIFA and is now putting his complaints in writing to them too.
SAFA's timeline is vague at best
SAFA's head of referees, Abdul Ebrahim, confirmed last month that VAR won't be in place for the start of 2026-27. The optimistic scenario, as he put it, is that it could appear "in the latter stages of the season" — if everything goes well. That's a lot of ifs attached to a technology that European leagues deployed years ago.
The stated blockers: NEC approval, training sessions that haven't started, and a VAR project team that hasn't briefed the media yet. For a process that was supposed to have been accelerated by a nine-figure government cheque, the pace is hard to defend.
McKenzie was pointed in where he places the blame — and where he doesn't. He went out of his way to shield SAFA president Danny Jordaan, saying: "It's not Danny Jordaan, it's other individuals there that are blocking this thing and I will name them soon enough." That threat to name names publicly may be the most consequential development to watch.
A minister with a complicated relationship with the game
McKenzie's approach to South African football since taking office in July 2024 has been anything but consistent. He stormed into the Bafana Bafana dressing room after a 2-2 draw with Uganda and told the players exactly what he thought of them — something coach Hugo Broos was reportedly furious about. Then the team turned things around, and McKenzie became, in Jordaan's words, "one of our biggest supporters."
He's also been pushing for the appointment of Pitso Mosimane as national team coach since the NEC named him as preferred candidate in August, and has made no secret of his impatience that contract negotiations appear to have stalled with no further announcement from SAFA.
The PSL remains one of the few top leagues on the continent without VAR, and every controversial refereeing call this season will land in the same place — McKenzie's inbox and SAFA's lap. The minister's threat to escalate to FIFA is the one lever left that might actually move something. Whether FIFA engages with a government minister's written complaint against a national federation is another question entirely.
SAFA asked for 21 days. The clock is running.
