The return of the Champions League this week — the glitz, the music and the semi-automated offside calls — acts as a timely reminder to the people in charge of the Premier League.
The “significant” video assistant referee (VAR) errors on two offside decisions at the Emirates and Selhurst Park at the weekend led to Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion receiving apologies from referees’ chief Howard Webb, officials being dropped and a meeting to discuss standards and the correct implementation of the technology.
Advertisement
The hope is that a reality check will help avoid such high-profile cases of human error, although in the short term, it may simply have to remain part of the equation.
The Premier League is, however, closely monitoring the rollout of semi-automated offside technology in UEFA’s premier club competition, either side of its successful use at the recent men’s World Cup.
English football’s top flight is also part of FIFA’s technology working group, and football’s world governing body is in regular contact with such elite domestic competitions about the latest developments and how to implement new technology in line with the laws of the game. Automated offsides will also be in action at the Women’s World Cup this summer.
“We expect that semi-automated offside technology can take us a step further,” Pierluigi Collina, chairman of FIFA’s referee committee, said last July. “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.”
Those clubs adversely affected already this season by errors in the current process will hope a similar stance is taken sooner rather than later in the Premier League — especially if this season comes down to fine points margins, or even goal difference, in the title and European qualification races or deciding who gets relegated.
What happened at the weekend?
At Crystal Palace, Brighton had a Pervis Estupinan goal wrongly disallowed for offside in the 1-1 draw when the VAR, John Brooks, drew an offside line on a replay freeze-frame in the wrong place. Brooks was then dropped from fulfilling the same role for the Merseyside derby on Monday and the huge game between leaders Arsenal and second-placed Manchester City on Wednesday.
Later the same day, Lee Mason failed to apply offside lines for the latter phase of Ivan Toney’s equaliser for Brentford away to Arsenal, even though his team-mate Christian Norgaard was offside in the build-up.
Why would a semi-automated system cut down human error?
When a semi-automated system is used, there is no need to draw or activate lines.
Instead, a virtual offside line is generated automatically in addition to accurately identifying skeleton points — including head, toes, upper arm and knees — on multiple players simultaneously. Ball-tracking highlights where the ball is when it is kicked and all of this is communicated to the VAR official via a real-time alert system using artificial intelligence.
Semi-automated offside technology made its World Cup debut last night – so is this the future?
Here's @mjshrimper with everything you need to know…
🎥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗟𝗘𝗧𝗜𝗖 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗦 pic.twitter.com/cpfnBvFbdV
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) November 21, 2022
Although the technology is doing the hard work, the VAR is still required to validate the proposed decision and then inform the on-field referee. That is why it is known as ‘semi-automated’. But, unlike Brooks’ or Mason’s recent Premier League mistakes, officials don’t need to intervene by drawing or activating lines on clips and stills of incidents.
Advertisement
As a result, human error should be reduced.
So could we see it in the Premier League soon?
The technology is there but FIFA and UEFA, European football’s governing body, have an advantage because they have their own dedicated match directors at every game. Other leagues do not (they are based at a central hub, for example) owing to the sheer volume of matches that they operate at once. Therefore, matchday broadcast logistics and decisions do come into the equation.
Although there are no rules on when new technology could be implemented, it is rarely done mid-season, either — however tempting that may be. The technology would come in for the start of the 2023-24 Premier League at the earliest. Italy’s Serie A, however, opted to introduce semi-automatic offside detection from January 27 this year, halfway through the campaign.
The Premier League has also not decided on the complexity of the system they might opt for.
How does it all work?
The information is gathered 50 times per second using 12 tracking cameras (it’s 10 in the Champions League), which are mounted to the roof of the stadium and monitor the exact position of the ball as well as up to 29 player data points.
In its most basic form (without a ball sensor, which isn’t used in the Champions League, or what are known as ‘player tags’) a semi-automated system can be implemented by any competition organiser without any formal approval, although FIFA outlines the minimum technology requirements at venues.
(Top photo: Getty Images)