Kaizer Chiefs coach Fernando Da Cruz has called for VAR to be introduced in the PSL, according to FARPost. It is not a new argument in South African football, but the timing is worth sitting with, because the competition everyone points to as the model spent the weekend proving that the technology settles nothing on its own.
BBC Sport reports that the video assistant referee for the Manchester derby, Matt Donohue, and his assistant Blake Antrobus have not been appointed to any Premier League game this weekend. ESPN puts it more bluntly, describing an error of judgement in awarding a goal to Manchester City at Old Trafford. Elsewhere, BBC Sport says Arsenal will contact refereeing body Pro Ref over the penalty Ezri Konsa conceded against Sunderland, and has run a separate piece asking whether supporters will ever get to hear live VAR audio, nearly ten years into the system's life. That is a league with full VAR coverage, and it is still arguing about the same decisions every Monday.
None of which is a reason to leave our referees on their own. It is a reason to be honest about what VAR would and would not change here. It would not have changed the shape of Chiefs' weekend. They went to Polokwane City and came back with a 1-1 draw, and the two Prediz fans who predicted that match both went 1-3, expecting Chiefs to take the game by the throat away from home. That was a prediction about attacking intent, not about officiating. Chiefs have 11 goals and a plus-five goal difference from six matches and sit fourth on 12 points. Polokwane are the lowest scorers in the division. The gap between those two profiles and a 1-1 draw is a football problem.
Chiefs get Golden Arrows on Sunday at 15:00, and Arrows have managed two goals in five matches. If you are predicting that one, the lesson from Polokwane is that Chiefs' away scorelines have been tighter than their goal difference suggests. Big margins against struggling sides are the easiest thing in the world to predict and the hardest thing to actually get right.