The British Premier League clubs have approved unanimously the use of semi-automated offside tech (SAOT) for the 2024-25 season of football.
The plan is to introduce the system after one of the international breaks in September or October, the Premier League said.
It is anticipated that SAOT could end up cutting the length of a video assistant referee (VAR) who checks for an offside by 31 seconds at an average.
In a statement, the Premier League said the state-of-the-art technology “will provide quicker and consistent placement of the virtual offside line, based on optical player tracking”.
It also added SAOT “will produce high-quality broadcast graphics to ensure an enhanced in-stadium and broadcast experience for supporters”.
What is the aim of this tech?
One aim is to introduce the technology next season for FA Cup ties hosted by Premier League clubs, and for the semi-finals and final at Wembley Stadium in the UK.
FIFA first used the tech in it’s 2022 FIFA men’s world cup. The SAOT tech was also trialled at the 2021 Arab Cup and Club World Cup, where it was estimated to have reduced the time taken to make offside VAR decisions from 70 to 25 seconds a huge improvement for both players and the referees.
The use of VAR for offside calls has continued to be a controversial subject in the football industry, often without any base is accused of holding a bias towards a certain group, with a number of high-profile incidents dominating the headlines in recent seasons.
In September, a total breakdown in communication had led to a VAR failing to overturn an incorrect decision to disallow a Luis Diaz’s goal for offside during Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham this is what had pushed the FA to come to this agreement with the clubs to allow fairplay in one of the most watched football events in football.
