Premier League set new deadline for semi-automated offside introduction | OneFootball

Semi-automated offside technology appears to be back on the agenda for this season’s Premier League campaign, despite previous fears it may be delayed until 2025/26.

Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Sky Sports News reports that the Premier League plans to introduce semi-automated offside technology before the end of the 2024/25 season.

Premier League Chief Financial Officer Tony Scholes confirmed the news, telling the media: “I have to confess, given the difficulties that we had over the first few months of the season (with SAOT testing) I had severe doubts about this.

“But the progress made over the last four to six weeks has been significant.

“We believe we’re going to be adopting the best system and the most accurate system – without the need for the chip in the ball.”

Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Semi-automated offside technology was already supposed to be in place by now, with the Premier League informing the public in August that the new system was “expected to be ready to be used from after one of the autumn international breaks”.

The September break passed with no progress, then the October and November. Reports then suggested some club figures feared it wouldn’t be implemented at all this season.

But the latest reports suggest the Premier League are now much more optimistic about introducing the new technology before long.

Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

Semi-automated offside technology removes the need for VAR officials to manually draw lines on still images of the action. Instead, the officials will simply confirm the decision and make the subjective calls over whether an offside player was active in the play.

The three major benefits of the system are speed, accuracy, and graphics that are easier for fans to understand.

The current stills often look confusing given the perspective they’re shown from, but the semi-automated system allows for the camera to move around the 3D environment and show the offside from directly in line with the players.

Having said that, the reduction in delays will probably be the most welcome upgrade for fans in the stadium.

Emirates Stadium fans had to wait two minutes and 40 seconds for Jurrien Timber’s goal to be ruled out in a game against Nottingham Forest earlier this season, and those kinds of delays are far from unusual in today’s game. They should occur far less often with SAOT.

The improved accuracy of the system is an added bonus, as drawing on blurry frames is never going to give you a perfect outcome every time.