‘Not impossible’ to introduce VAR in ISL next season, AIFF AGM informed

ITANAGAR — The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the All-India Football Federation (AIFF) was on Sunday told that it was “not impossible” to introduce Virtual Assistant Referee (VAR) in the Indian Super League (ISL) from next season with no cost to the federation.

The House took up discussions on the current state of Indian refereeing and the possible introduction of VAR. The AIFF Chief Refereeing Officer, while submitting his report and pointing out that 85 per cent of on-pitch refereeing decisions are proving to be correct in the current season, also held discussions with five reputed agencies specialised in VAR.

Based on the report, a presentation on VAR was made in front of the members, who felt that it was not impossible to introduce the advanced system in the ISL from the next season on a no-cost-to-the-AIFF basis. The members were informed that there would be further discussions on this issue in the first week of May.

The AIFF held its Executive Committee meeting followed by the Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, on Sunday.

The Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu, who is also the President of the state football association, attended the meeting.

The AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey chaired the Executive Committee meeting in the presence of Vice President N.A. Haris, Treasurer Kipa Ajay, Acting Secretary General M. Satyanarayan, and the members of the Committee.

After the completion of the Executive Committee meeting, the AIFF Annual General Body Meeting was held in the presence of representatives from various Member State Associations, other stakeholders and representatives from FIFA and AFC with Chaubey in the chair.

Both the Executive Committee and the General Body expressed anguish at the way personal attacks have been made against senior AIFF officials, especially the President, from certain quarters.

The members felt that the attacks were not only personal against the Federation President but also an outright insult to every member of the Federation and the AIFF in general. Taking note of this, the House passed a resolution calling this attack motivated and done with definite malicious intent.

After detailed discussions, the Executive Committee and the General Body decided to give the go-ahead to the proposed FSDL-AIFF-IndiGo agreement. The members were of the opinion that the MoU on this issue that could be agreed upon, would immensely help in lifting the brand value of Indian Football.

The Executive Committee and the General Body passed a resolution that, in the future, only honorary members of the AIFF would be nominated for different committees and standing committees of the continental and world bodies, provided it is approved by the Executive Committee.

The members of the Executive Committee and the General Body unanimously expressed happiness over the conduct of the 77th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy in Itanagar, and the production that was streamed live on FIFA+ as well as Arunachal Pradesh Football Association’s YouTube channel.