FIFA World Cup 2022 will have several new additions in Qatar, with the semi-automated offside technology being one of them, to be used for the first time in the tournament.
With the introduction of the goal-line technology in 2014 (Brazil) and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in 2018 (Russia), SAOT will follow the custom of periodic innovation in the World Cup.
With the help of technology, football in Qatar may well become more objective in refereeing decisions, if not more accurate.
“Semi-automated offside technology is an evolution of the VAR systems that have been implemented across the world,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
“This technology is the culmination of three years of dedicated research and testing to provide the very best for the teams, players and fans who will be heading to Qatar later this year, and FIFA is proud of this work, as we look forward to the world seeing the benefits of semi-automated offside technology at the FIFA World Cup 2022,” he added.
The workflow of semi-automated offside technology and the connected ball technology has been successfully trialled at numerous test events and live at FIFA tournaments, including the FIFA Club World Cup and FIFA Arab Cup 2021 last year.
During these matches, the new technology was able to support the video match officials by helping them make more accurate and reproducible offside decisions in a shorter period of time.
The data collected during online and offline tests has been analysed and validated by the MIT Sports Lab, with TRACK at Victoria University scientifically validating the limb-tracking technology.
Further insights into the technological capabilities of such multi-camera tracking systems are being provided by a research team at ETH Zurich.
More tests will be conducted in the coming months to fine-tune the system before a global standard is implemented to ensure that the new technology can be used in the world of football.
“VAR has already had a very positive impact on football and we can see that the number of major mistakes has already been dramatically reduced.
We expect that semi-automated offside technology can take us a step further,” said Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee and a six-time winner of the best referee in the world award.
“We are aware that 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,” he added.
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