The Premier League has spent over 12 months testing a number of artificial intelligence (AI)-based semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) providers, and now it’s ready to be rolled out during the 2024-25 season.
UEFA first used SAOT in the Champions League from the start of the 2022-23 season group stage, quickly followed by FIFA for the World Cup in Qatar.
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What is this new technology, how does it work, and is it really any better?
When will we see SAOT in the Premier League?
The Premier League has confirmed that it will introduce semi-automated VAR offside technology (SAOT) for the 2024-25 season — but it won’t be in place for the start of the campaign.
A statement read: “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.”
Why not at the start of the 2024-25 season?
A source has told ESPN that the Premier League is to part ways with Hawk-Eye, the current provider of offside technology, and the replacement company will not be ready with SAOT in August as additional testing is required.
Extensive trials and analysis has been conducted throughout this season but SAOT will not be available until after one of the three autumn international breaks — though there’s no confirmation if that will be in September, October or November as the Premier League wants to be sure the technology is reliable.
Is SAOT in any other leagues?
Serie A was the first European domestic league to switch to SOAT, introducing it in January 2023 after a high-profile VAR error early in that campaign had seen a stoppage-time winning goal for Juventus incorrectly disallowed. Mexico’s Liga BBVA MX also introduced it in January 2023, and it has been used in the CONMEBOL Libertadores, South America’s Champions League.
LaLiga had already announced it would introduce SAOT for the 2024-25 season.
Why does VAR offside need to change?
Long delays, perceived inaccuracies and a lack of confidence in the system among fans, players and coaches. And that’s just for starters.
Scepticism also comes from the poor visualisation of decisions, with lines placed on the pitch which cannot replace a person’s own perspective of an offside decision on a camera angle. A player may look onside, but the technology says they are offside.
So, what does the Premier League hope to solve?
Firstly, selecting the exact point the ball is touched by the passer cannot be determined accurately because of the frame rate of TV cameras (50 frames per second) used across all major leagues.
Secondly, the VAR manually selects the farthest forward point on both defender and attacker (or the ball if applicable), which cannot be applied consistently.
The time taken to judge offside, in some cases up to five minutes for complex decisions, adds further frustration.
All in all, supporters don’t really trust the process as it works now — not helped by a number of high-profile errors.
In February, the VAR had failed to identify that a Brentford player was offside in the buildup to a goal at Arsenal. On the same day, the lines had been placed on the wrong Crystal Palace defender, leading to a Brighton & Hove Albion goal incorrectly being disallowed.
And in October, Liverpool had a goal ruled out for offside on the field at Tottenham Hotspur which the VAR mistakenly failed to correct. However, the error on the Luis Díaz goal was primarily around communication rather than the technology — an issue SAOT would not be able to fix by itself but a less complicated process may help prevent it.
So why is semi-automated offside technology better?
SAOT automates the process outlined above and produces a result in a much quicker timeframe. It removes all subjectivity from these two parts of the process, meaning there is no human role. The Premier League believes the average time taken for an offside VAR review will be cut by 31 seconds.
The Premier League is also confident that SAOT will increase confidence in decision making by reducing the reliance on checking all potential offsides — therefore reducing the likelihood that a potential offside decision is missed by VAR.
The semi-automated part comes in because the VAR still has to validate the offside decision — the technology cannot tell if an attacker is actively involved in play or confirm the ball was touched by a teammate of that player.
