AIFF Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran has admitted publicly that the Federation does not have enough funds for VAR lite. Indian football refereeing decisions have angered players, coaches, and fans. After observing the same thing in Belgium, AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey made the decision to introduce VAR to India. The same disputes in ISL 2023–24, though, were starting to irritate Indian supporters.
‘We don’t have funds’ AIFF Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran said on being asked by a fan on social media about implementation of VAR lite.
When the AIFF investigated the cost of implementing VAR in 2020, they were informed that, on a long-term contract, it would cost them around Rs 18–20 lakh each match and Rs 15-20 crore every season.
According to FIFA regulations, VAR systems must evaluate offsides, glaring mistakes, and significant missed events using a minimum of four cameras. It also calls for more match officials. All member associations, however, are allowed to design their own procedure to guarantee that referee errors are minimized.
In March 2021, FIFA introduced the idea of VAR Light to The IFAB and its members after looking at affordable VAR system options. VAR Light systems are made for matches with less than eight cameras, whereas complete VAR systems are made to handle a lot of camera feeds.
However, seems like even the cost effective VAR is too far fetched for AIFF.
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