He Premier League is about to introduce a revolutionary new version of the Video Assistant Referee system using Semi-Automatic Offside Technology (SAOT) which it claims will produce the best refereeing set-up in the world.
The AI-powered system has been developed by tech firm Genius Sports, which will install 28 machine vision cameras across all Premier League stadiums. The firm is confident it can deliver VAR verdicts in seconds and save minutes in top-flight matches.
The Premier League was regularly plagued by long delays in VAR checks last season, with referees taking 5 minutes and 37 seconds to disallow a goal for West Ham against Aston Villa in March. The average time taken by VAR to disallow a goal was 64 seconds, leading to the average length of matches stretching to almost 102 minutes.
Premier League director of football Tony Scholes admitted in February that VAR delays were ruining matches for fans, and the top-flight executive responded by recommending the introduction of SAOT. Clubs voted unanimously in favour of introducing the new technology in April, although its introduction was briefly in doubt when Wolves have proposed removing VAR altogether in June, in an extraordinary move that garnered no other votes.
Following a competitive tender process, Genius Sports has successfully beaten the Premier League’s existing data partner Hawk-Eye to secure the SAOT contract. During trials across a number of Premier League and Champions League matches last season, the SAOT operated by match officials delivered decisions within seconds, leading Genius to claim that the average waiting time can be reduced to around 30 seconds.
Machine vision cameras capture 10,000 data points from each player’s surface and the ball, allowing Genius to instantly create so-called “offside walls” for VAR and match officials, and its 3D player graphics will also be available to TV viewers. While details are yet to be agreed, detailed player graphics showing clear offside lines could also be displayed in stadiums, significantly improving the fan experience on match days.
The Premier League says collecting billions of data points will give it the most sophisticated refereeing system in the sport, delivering unrivalled accuracy in every offside decision.
The new system will not be used until after the international break next month as it will take time to install the cameras and other technology in stadiums. Hawk-Eye will continue to use goal-line technology in the Premier League for at least another season as its contract expires next summer.
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As well as delays, the Premier League suffered a number of high-profile offside errors last season. In February, VAR failed to detect that a Brentford player was offside in the build-up to a goal against Arsenal, while on the same day, manually drawn lines were placed on the wrong Crystal Palace defender, leading to a Brighton goal being incorrectly ruled out.
The introduction of SAOT should ensure such errors are not repeated, but it would not prevent the mistake that led to a Liverpool goal being incorrectly ruled out for offside at Tottenham last October due to miscommunication between the officials.
UEFA first introduced SAOT for the 2022-23 Champions League. FIFA also used it for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
