Will VAR be adopted in Hong Kong? Official says no plan for now due to cost, but adoption is inevitable

Hong Kong football has no timetable for the introduction of the controversial VAR (Video Assistant Referee) system and the heavy cost of adopting it means it is unclear whether it will ever be used in the city, the city’s top referee said.

At a media briefing session on Tuesday, Hong Kong Football Association head of refereeing Charles Cheung Yim-yau praised the new technology that helps the officials, but questioned whether local football would ever apply the system.

“There are many countries in Asia – at least over 10 – that are using VAR to help referees but we do not have any plan at the moment,” said Cheung, a retired referee. “It is all about resources. We need eight cameras for the match, with a few crew members to take care of one camera. We also need an operation room for the VAR referees to communicate with the on-field officials. We have estimated the cost to be more than HK$1 million per match.

“Of course, if more and more countries and tournaments are using the new technology, the cost will be lowered and we think governing bodies such as Fifa may do something to help out as they also want to see more countries to adopt VAR.”

Cheung said Asian countries like China, Japan, Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are using VAR, while some other Southeast Asian states such as Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia are planning for it. Regional tournaments such as the 2019 Asian Cup finals in UAE early this year also used VAR from the quarter-finals stage, while this year’s AFC Champions League semi-finals will also.

“There are 47 members of the AFC and if most of them are using it, Hong Kong cannot lag behind our regional counterparts,” he said. “But this is still too early to say. Other than the equipment and manpower costs, we still need to work out a lot of things before we can see this happen in Hong Kong.”