February 10, (THEWILL) – FIFA has stated that the trial of semi-automated offside technology (SAOT), at the Club World Cup has given them hope for its use at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
One of the main criticisms of VAR has been the length of time it takes for officials to make a decision. This issue is addressed with semi-automated technology, which is sometimes referred to as “robot offside.”
The system allows 10 dedicated cameras in the stadium, as well as many television broadcast cameras, to track 18 data points for each individual player, indicating their position on the field. By the time of the FIFA World Cup, the number of data points per player is predicted to rise to 29.
This data is collected 50 times per second and sent to an AVAR dedicated to offside decisions, who checks it and makes a recommendation to the VAR and on-field referee. Because this method occurs in real time, judgements on offside calls can be made in seconds.
Early evidence indicates that the technology will make decisions faster than what currently obtains with VAR. This was proved during the Club World Cup semi-finals.
Palmeiras thought they had scored to make it 2-1 against Al Ahly, only for semi-automated offside technology to intervene and force the strike to be chalked off. Unlike VAR, this process was completed in a matter of seconds.
That is part of a larger trend in which technology is drastically reducing the time it takes to make a decision. If the testing procedure goes well, semi-automated offside technology will be implemented for the 2022 World Cup.
Pierluigi Collina, Chairman of FIFA’s Referee Committee, and FIFA’s Technology and Innovation team have complimented SAOT for its capacity to assist officials in making decisions.
“We’re continuing a test to try to achieve the objective: to have more accurate decisions and also quicker decisions in offside incidents,” he said. “I know that someone called it ‘robot offside’; it’s not.”
“The referees and the assistant referees are still responsible for the decision on the field of play. The technology only gives them valued support to make more accurate and quicker decisions, particularly when the offside incident is very tight and very difficult.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
