The Premier League has announced plans to adopt semi-automated offside technology starting next season, aiming to speed up VAR decision-making times.
This new system will utilize advanced camera technology and tracking software to determine players’ positions when potential offsides occur, eliminating the need for VAR teams to manually analyze these situations. Trials have indicated that this technology can reduce the time taken to make VAR decisions by an average of 31 seconds.
Clubs have unanimously agreed to implement this technology, as confirmed during a recent Premier League shareholders’ meeting held on Thursday. Although it will not be in place at the start of the season, it is expected to be introduced in the autumn. The Premier League had previously been cautious about adopting such technology, but it now has the strong support of Howard Webb, the head of the referees’ association, who expressed his enthusiasm: “I am delighted,” he said.
This semi-automated technology, which was previously utilized at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, streamlines the offside decision process by automatically generating the virtual offside lines needed for these calls, thus providing broadcast-quality graphics that can be displayed both in stadiums and during broadcasts. Although VAR officials may still need to review some offside calls, particularly in complex scenarios, the new system significantly reduces their workload.
Additionally, Webb and the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) are considering proposals that would allow fans in the stadium to view the same footage that referees are seeing on the VAR monitors. Plans are also in place to use announcements in stadiums to communicate the outcomes of VAR checks through brief messages.
The league released a statement explaining the benefits of this technology: “The technology will provide quicker and consistent placement of the virtual offside line, based on optical player tracking, and will produce high-quality broadcast graphics to ensure an enhanced in-stadium and broadcast experience for supporters.”
