The Premier League has spent over 12 months testing a range of artificial intelligence-based semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) providers and is now ready for launch in the 2024-25 season.
UEFA first used SAOT at the start of the group stage of the 2022/23 season in the Champions League, followed shortly afterwards by FIFA for the World Cup in Qatar.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, more (USA)
What is this new technology, how does it work and is it really better?
When will we see SAOT in the Premier League?
The Premier League has confirmed it will introduce semi-automated VAR offside technology for the 2024/25 season – but this will not be available at the start of the season.
Editor favorites
2 relatives
A statement said: “At a Premier League shareholders meeting today, clubs unanimously agreed to the introduction of semi-automatic offside technology.”
“The new system will be used for the first time in the Premier League next season and it is expected that the technology will be ready for use after one of the autumn international breaks.”
“The technology will enable faster and consistent virtual offside line placement based on optical player tracking and produce high-quality broadcast graphics to ensure an improved stadium and broadcast experience for fans.”
Why not right at the start of the 2024-25 season?
A source has told ESPN that the Premier League will part ways with Hawk-Eye, the current offside technology provider, and the replacement company will not be ready with SAOT in August due to the need for additional testing.
Extensive testing and analysis has been carried out throughout this season, however SAOT will only be available after one of the three autumn international breaks – although there is no confirmation whether this will be in September, October or November as the Premier League wants to be sure of this technology is reliable.
Is SAOT in other leagues?
Serie A was the first domestic European league to switch to SAOT, introducing it in January 2023 after a high-profile VAR error earlier this season led to a Juventus injury-time winning goal being incorrectly disallowed. The Mexican league BBVA MX also introduced it in January 2023 and it was used in the CONMEBOL Libertadores, the South American equivalent of the Champions League.
LaLiga had already announced that it would introduce SAOT for the 2024-25 season.
Why does the VAR offside position have to change?
Long delays, perceived inaccuracies and a lack of trust in the system among fans, players and coaches. And thats just the beginning.
Skepticism also arises from poor visualization of decisions, with lines on the field that cannot replace one's own perspective of an offside decision from a camera angle. A player may look for offside, but the technology says he is offside.
What does the Premier League hope to solve?
First, the exact selection of the point at which the ball is touched by the passer cannot be accurately determined due to the frame rate of television cameras used in all major leagues (50 frames per second).
Secondly, the VAR manually selects the most forward point on both the defender and the attacker (or the ball if applicable), which cannot be applied consistently.
The time required to assess an offside situation, which can take up to five minutes in some cases for complex decisions, adds to the frustration.
All in all, supporters don't really trust the process as it works now – although a number of high-profile errors have contributed to this.
In February, VAR failed to detect that a Brentford player was offside in the build-up to a goal at Arsenal. On the same day, the lines were drawn on the wrong Crystal Palace defender, resulting in a Brighton & Hove Albion goal being incorrectly disallowed.
And in October, Liverpool had a goal ruled out due to an on-field offside at Tottenham Hotspur, which the VAR incorrectly failed to correct. However, the flaw in Luis Díaz's goal lay primarily in communication, not technology – a problem that SAOT could not solve on its own, but that could be prevented through a less complicated process.
Why is semi-automatic offside technology better?
SAOT automates the process described above and delivers a result in a much faster time. This removes any subjectivity from these two parts of the process, meaning there is no human role. The Premier League expects the average time it takes for an offside VAR review to be reduced by 31 seconds.
The Premier League is also confident that SAOT will increase confidence in decision-making by reducing the reliance on reviewing all potential offsides, thereby reducing the likelihood of a potential offside decision being overlooked by VAR.
The semi-automated part comes into play because the VAR still needs to validate the offside decision – the technology cannot detect whether an attacker is actively involved in the play or confirm that the ball was touched by a teammate of that player.
A visualization of a goal that was ruled out for offside at the World Cup. BBC
How will it work?
Ten bespoke cameras will be installed across the Premier League's 20 pitches. These cameras provide optimal tracking of all 22 players and record 29 data points on all limbs and extremities relevant to an offside decision – including upper arm, toes, knees and head – so the system knows the exact position of a player at any given time.
All player and ball data is processed in real time by the AI, which triggers a warning to the VAR when an offside position is detected. The VAR must then confirm that the kick point and offside line are correct and the offside player is active, and then inform the referee, who can confirm or change the decision on the pitch.
The referee must still go to the field monitor if a subjective offside decision (e.g. an attacker in the goalkeeper's field of vision) is to be changed.
However, there is a difference to the system used by FIFA at the World Cup, which uses a sensor in the cue ball to dramatically improve the accuracy of the kick point.
The Premier League – like the other top European leagues and the Champions League – does not have a sensor in the ball or on the players, but the AI will compensate for this.
The optical tracking system records the players, but also the ball throughout the entire game. It operates at 50 frames per second (1 frame every 0.02 seconds), just like the offside technology we see in the domestic leagues, but should be able to detect any change in the ball's direction.
Between frames, the AI is able to interpolate player and ball movements, with the system providing a continuous flow of data.
More accurate? So do we go back to the offside positions of toenails?
This was always the fear when a more precise system was first discussed. There is currently a tolerance limit or “benefit of the doubt” for VAR offside as the process has errors in terms of accuracy and consistency. This “benefit of the doubt” is intended to be eliminated by making decisions based on the result presented to the VAR.
This means we will apparently be going back to the incredibly minor offside decisions we saw when VAR was introduced.
How can we tell when a player is actually offside?
This is just as important as any other part of this project. It was incredibly difficult for fans to imagine offside decisions and now fans are effectively put in line with the assistant referee to signal an offside decision.
Similar to the goal line technique, a 3D animation is created that is shown in the stadium and on television.
The attacker's exact point that is judged to be offside is highlighted, and a simulation then moves according to the players.
It's much easier to understand for fans on site or in front of the TV.
There will be a new 3D animation showing an offside decision – but there may be other asides. Fifa
So no more long delays?
They will certainly be less common as SAOT means the VAR does not have to go through the manual process of decision-making.
However, there may be times when a decision contains subjective elements. Is a player disrupting the game? Did the defender play the ball “intentionally”? Is there an attacker in the goalkeeper's field of vision? These decisions and others with multiple offside elements will take longer.
Additionally, as this is new technology, the Premier League wants decisions to be reviewed and not made on faith just for an error to be discovered.
Is it great that fans can celebrate goals again?
Could we return to a situation where the first thought in a fan's mind is no longer the fear of a goal being disallowed or subject to lengthy scrutiny? With new technology, that's part of the plan, but we're still a long way from it – although that will be better.
All goals and penalty decisions must be checked for offside. This still means that the vast majority of decisions are subject to offside control. The fact that it's faster is great, but will it be fast enough?
However, many checks are likely to run in the background without any impact. We can't really assess the psychological impact on fans until we see it in action in the Premier League.
In Serie A there was still controversy over the narrow offside calls, but fewer complaints overall.
What about the delayed offside flag?
While it's true that SAOT can process player positions quickly, the time it takes for VAR to validate decisions means we haven't seen an end to the delayed offside flag yet.
Play continues in an attacking situation until the end of the phase when the assistant raises his flag.
Is SAOT used for all offside decisions?
The technology ensures that all possible offside situations are reported to the VAR. However, this information is only validated and communicated to the on-field referee when one of the usual game-winning moments covered by VAR occurs – goals, penalties and red cards.
Therefore, if an offside position is determined before a corner or free kick but is not signaled by the assistant referee, the VAR will not alert the referee and an offside position will not be penalized.
Comments are closed.