Steve Barker has his say on VAR while biting his lip after Orlando...

FILES – FC Stellenbosch Steve Barker at a 2023 MTN8 press conference. Barker was quite dissatisfied with the way his club was

defeated by the Orlando Pirates in the championship game. Image: Independent Newspapers / Ayanda Ndamane.

The MTN8 final fiasco forced Stellenbosch FC coach Steve Barker to bite his lip several times to keep his true feelings from being

revealed.

In the closing stages of the MTN8 final against the Orlando Pirates in Durban, Barker and squad were on the wrong side of a

contentious call Barker was clearly devastated by the loss.

Pirates were given a free kick as the game appeared to be heading into extra time after 90 minutes with a score of 1-1. The Stellenbosch

defenders were unprepared for it, though, as it was taken directly in front of the foul site. The ball was then passed to Tshegofatso

Mabasa inside the penalty area, and he scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal.

Following the match, Barker revealed that the technology known as video assisted refereeing (VAR) had initially been considered for

the final game. Conversely, referee Abongile Tom and his assistants found themselves on their own that night.

Barker, fuming, claims that extra time would have been played and that “sanity would have prevailed” if VAR had been used.

“I believe that they were considering targeting the final to apply VAR at one time. Sadly, it didn’t happen,” Barker remarked.

Nonetheless, it appears that sometimes important calls are not made correctly. You know, I believe that the deployment of VAR will be

beneficial.

Simply put, a lot was going on. You take a quick free kick in the cup final and score a goal. You know, he had to make that choice, and

he chose to leave the goal alone.

Since he was still talking to the players and wasn’t even present when it happened, the VAR intervention would have said, “Listen, we

need to restart; it wasn’t taken at the right place.”

“At least we would have had an interesting extra time, and sanity would have won out.”

Steve Barker has his say on VAR while biting his lip after Orlando Pirates’ controversial MTN8 final winner