England Premier Soccer League
An official message from the league confirms that
Semi-automatic offside technology
(SAOT) will not be operational at the start of the new season and is expected to go live after international match days in the fall. In April, Premier League clubs voted unanimously to introduce the technology from the 2024-25 season to improve the accuracy and efficiency of offside penalties.
SAOT's operation relies on a system of computer vision cameras, powered by Genius Sports, installed at every Premier League stadium. These cameras will track thousands of data points on every player and ball in the game in all directions. when there is a key moment in the game, such as a goal, penalty or red card, the system automatically detects if a player is offside and sends an alert to an official at the VAR center. the VAR official further checks the accuracy of the decision and communicates the result to the referee on the pitch.
The Premier League have said that they expect the average speed of offside penalties to improve by more than 30 seconds from last season with the help of SAOT. However, this does not mean that all delays in VAR offside penalties will be eliminated. There may still be situations that require further scrutiny, such as a player being covered by another player, an edge decision, or determining whether an offside player is interfering with play, which may still require detailed scrutiny by the VAR, or even the intervention of the on-field referee.
In addition, the Premier League confirmed that images of offside penalties will be produced and made available to broadcasters and the Premier League's digital platforms, and will be shown to fans on the stadium's big screens as the match progresses to ensure transparency in the process of awarding penalties.
