Next season, the Premier League is set to adopt semi-automated offside technology (SAOT), a system already in use in Serie A and the Champions League.
Although the rollout won’t occur until the season’s start, it’s anticipated to be operational sometime between September and November. The primary goal is to streamline VAR checks for offside calls, aiming to expedite decision-making processes.
Before now, a similar offside technology was used during the 2022 World Cup, featuring a chip embedded within the matchday ball.
This tech was also employed at the 2023 Women’s World Cup and the Club World Cup held in Saudi Arabia last December, where Manchester City emerged victorious.
Looking ahead, UEFA has confirmed plans to introduce SAOT at the upcoming European Championships in Germany.
- Offside Rules Changes For 2024/25 Season
- How Offsides Currently Work in the Premier League
- How Does Semi-automated Offside Technology Work?
- How Was it tested?
- Why does SAOT require less time for a decision to be made?
- Can SAOT support the video match officials in all offside decisions?
- When is the 3D animation created?
- Will SAOT decisions be accurate?
- What happens if the system malfunctions?
- How is information from the ball used in offside decisions?
- How will semi-automated offside technology change the fan experience?
Offside Rules Changes For 2024/25 Season
On April 11th, 2024, it was revealed that every Premier League club had given their approval for the implementation of SAOT in the upcoming season.
Howard Webb, the Chief Refereeing Officer of Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), introduced the technology to Premier League stakeholders. Webb drew upon instances from the Champions League to illustrate the advantages of the new system.
Anticipated to debut following one of the autumn international breaks during the 2024/25 season, the technology aims to streamline officiating processes.
The Premier League issued the following statement to announce the new offside rule.
“At a Premier League Shareholders’ meeting today, clubs unanimously agreed to the introduction of Semi-Automated Offside Technology.
“The new system will be used for the first time in the Premier League next season, and it is anticipated the technology will be ready to be introduced after one of the autumn international breaks.
“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.”
Next season, the Premier League will adopt the same cameras and technology used in the Champions League.
This move is expected to save an average of just over 30 seconds per decision with SAOT.
Since the introduction of VAR in 2019, the time-consuming process of manually drawing offside lines has faced widespread criticism, prompting all Premier League clubs to unanimously support the implementation of this technology.
Also, the new system aims to address a recent issue in England’s top division where assistant referees withhold flagging potential offsides until after the attacking sequence concludes.
Under the new protocol, VAR officials at Stockley Park will instruct assistant referees to raise their flags immediately when an attacker is deemed offside by the technology.
Here’s how it works: when a player receives the ball in an offside position, the technology triggers an automatic alert in the video operation room. Before relaying the decision to the on-field referee, video match officials verify the accuracy of the kicking point and the automated offside line.
“It is hoped that the entire process takes a matter of seconds rather than a few minutes.”
| The Premier League and Offside Technology – Timeline of Events | |
|---|---|
| Date/Season | Event |
| 2019/20 | VAR was introduced in the Premier League. |
| 2021/22 | During the initial two seasons of VAR, the Premier League broadcasted the entire offside review process to viewers. However, starting from the 2021/22 season, only the conclusive image confirming the offside decision or its absence has been shared with audiences. |
| June 2023 | The EPL opted not to introduce SAOT before the 2023/24 season.
However, they have confirmed that they are experimenting with semi-automated offside technology based on artificial intelligence. This decision comes after the technology’s successful deployment during the 2022 World Cup. |
| September 2023 | When Liverpool’s forward Luis Diaz scores a goal from an onside position, VAR fails to overturn the on-field decision of offside. This incident is considered the tipping point for the current offside system, where VAR officials manually draw lines. |
| 11th April 2024 | The EPL announced that all 20 clubs have unanimously agreed to the introduction of SAOT in the 2024/25 campaign. |
How Offsides Currently Work in the Premier League
In the Premier League, officiating involves an on-field referee and assistants, alongside VAR officials stationed at Stockley Park.
When assessing offsides, separate lines are drawn for both the defender and attacker, aligning with body parts capable of scoring goals. Initially, a manual crosshair line is placed, with the attacking line marked in yellow and the defensive line in black.
For close-offside calls, a thicker broadcast line is superimposed to aid in making the final decision. VAR operators then highlight the attacking line in red if the player is deemed offside and green if they’re onside.
However, this system has faced criticism from fans and pundits due to the time required to draw the lines and the lack of replay visibility for stadium spectators.
Concerns have also been raised about the straightness of VAR lines, as viewers observe the line-drawing process during broadcasts. In response, the Premier League released an explanatory article before this season, addressing the question, “Why do VAR lines sometimes appear not straight?”
Their explanation is as follows:
“A lot of it is down to the camera angle and perspective. Unless a broadcast camera is perfectly in line with the last defender, the camera angle can make him appear to be further back or forward than he is in reality of the horizontal line drawn.
This is also true of the vertical line drawn concerning gravity adjudging offsides. This will only appear straight if the camera is in line with the offside incident. They also don’t always appear perfectly vertical because TV cameras are very rarely perfectly horizontal.
If the roll is applied to the camera, ie it is not perfectly horizontal, the vertical line can appear to lean to one side.”
How Does Semi-automated Offside Technology Work?
SAOT uses 12 dedicated tracking cameras installed beneath the stadium roof, along with monitoring up to 29 data points for each player, capturing their precise position on the field 50 times per second.
These data points encompass all relevant body parts for accurate offside calls.
An inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor is placed inside the ball to enhance the detection of tight offside incidents.
Positioned at the ball’s centre, this sensor transmits ball data to the video operation room at a rate of 500 times per second, ensuring precise tracking of the kick point.
By integrating limb and ball tracking data with artificial intelligence, the new technology prompts an automated offside alert for video match officials whenever an attacker receives the ball in an offside position.
Before relay to the on-field referee, the proposed decision undergoes manual validation by the video match officials, who verify the selected kick point and the automatically generated offside line based on players’ limb positions.
This streamlined process enables quicker and more accurate offside decisions.
Once confirmed by the referee on the field, the same positional data points used in the decision-making process are transformed into a 3D animation, depicting the exact position of players’ limbs at the moment the ball was played.
This animation, offering optimal perspectives for understanding offside situations, is displayed on stadium giant screens and shared with FIFA’s broadcast partners to ensure clear communication to all spectators.
How Was it tested?
The first trial of this technology took place during the 2021 Arab Cup, a tournament featuring teams from the Middle East and North Africa. This trial aimed to assess its effectiveness ahead of potential use in the 2022 World Cup.
In Qatar, the stadium was equipped with 12 tracking cameras positioned under the roof, alongside monitoring of up to 29 data points on each player, tracking specific body parts involved in playing the ball.
Pierluigi Collina, then Chair of the FIFA Referees Committee, discussed the technology’s introduction before the 2022 World Cup:
“VAR has already had a very positive impact on football and we can see that the number of major mistakes has already been dramatically reduced.
We expect that semi-automated offside technology can take us a step further.
We are aware that sometimes the process to check a possible offside takes too long, especially when the offside incident is very tight. This is where semi-automated offside technology comes in – to offer faster and more accurate decisions.”
Following its debut, the technology was introduced in other prestigious competitions, including the 2023 Women’s World Cup and the Champions League over the past two seasons.
Serie A also adopted the technology in the last 18 months, while La Liga announced its decision to implement SAOT from the beginning of the next season in October 2023.
With SAOT proving successful in various club and international tournaments, the Premier League has decided to follow suit, planning to introduce the technology in late 2024.
| Implementation of SAOT in European Leagues | |
|---|---|
| Competition | SAOT Introduction |
| Serie A | January 2023 |
| La Liga | Start of 2024/25 Season |
| Premier League | September-November 2024 |
Why does SAOT require less time for a decision to be made?
VAR offside checks usually consume about 70 seconds.
However, with semi-automated offside technology (SAOT), video match officials no longer need to manually determine the kick point or draw the offside line.
Instead, they swiftly validate the proposed decision by visually confirming the automatically selected kick point and offside line, which are calculated based on player limb positions.
This quick process ensures quicker and more precise offside decisions. Nevertheless, intricate scenarios or multiple incidents occurring simultaneously may necessitate a more thorough examination.
Can SAOT support the video match officials in all offside decisions?
The new technology assists video match officials in determining offside when an attacker receives the ball in an offside position at the time it was played by a teammate.
However, for other offside incidents, such as interfering with an opponent, the decision-making process remains unchanged, and it’s left to the referee’s discretion to make the call.
When is the 3D animation created?
Once the referee on the field confirms the decision, the exact positional data points used earlier are converted into a 3D animation. This animation accurately depicts the position of the player’s limbs at the moment the ball is played.
Will SAOT decisions be accurate?
According to the test results from the three-year testing phase, semi-automated offside technology is currently the most accurate system for supporting video match officials in offside decisions.
And, the system ensures consistency in placing offside lines, particularly in cases where the shoulder or upper part of the arm determines the offside line.
What happens if the system malfunctions?
If the semi-automated offside technology malfunctions, the video match officials can resort to using other familiar offside support tools, such as crosshair or triangulation.
How is information from the ball used in offside decisions?
In extremely close offside scenarios, where the decision differs between two frames, video match officials will examine the precise moment of the ball’s first touch by using data from the inertial measurement unit sensor inside the ball.
They will then select the appropriate frame from the footage based on the kickpoint.
How does the information reach the referee on the field?
After the validation process for the automatically selected kick point and an offside line is finalized by the video match officials, the video assistant referee communicates the decision to the on-field referee using the audio communication system.
How will semi-automated offside technology change the fan experience?
FIFA asserts that SAOT offers two primary advantages: speed and accuracy in decision-making.
Currently, offside decisions using VAR can exceed 60 seconds on average and can stretch up to 4 or 5 minutes in extreme cases. This considerable delay significantly disrupts the flow of the game and detracts from the fan viewing experience.
FIFA aims to reduce the average time required to make offside decisions with its new technology, thereby minimizing waiting times for fans to see the match resume.
Moreover, SAOT is anticipated to minimize most human errors, which have been a significant point of contention since the inception of VAR.
And the immediate availability of digital animation after an offside incident addresses transparency concerns and aids fans in understanding the rationale behind decisions.
In essence, semi-automated offside technology equips VAR teams with a more efficient tool for making offside decisions. Officials hope this advancement will diminish controversies surrounding VAR, enhance accuracy, and garner broader acceptance within the football community.
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