The Premier League will report that semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) will be introduced before the end of the (2024/25) season and hope to see referees explain the VAR decision to the crowds in the stadium.
Sky Sports News confirmed that fans will likely see offside rules for some semi-automated off-road competitions in the Premier League at the start of next season.
The decision comes after the Premier League revealed a six-point plan to improve VAR as it strives to make the system more accurate, faster and more transparent. But after delays in testing the technology, the Premier League said it will wait until next season, if not totally convinced it is reliable, or it is too close to the end of the season.
Premier League chief football officer Tony Scholes admitted he was concerned about the reliability of the technology for a long time until the breakthrough before Christmas.
“In view of the difficulties we have encountered in the first few months of the season, I must admit [with SAOT testing] I’m very skeptical of this. But there has been a lot of progress in the past four to six weeks. Therefore, we believe we will adopt the best and most accurate system without the need for the chip in the ball. The EFL introduced it to the Calaba Cup this year. We will monitor it. However, the operation of semi-automated position bias technology has not changed the integrity of the offside method. Its function is to make the process more efficient. Obviously, if we weren’t confident until the last two or three games, I think you then got to a pragmatic place and it wouldn’t make sense for you to introduce it now. But if we can introduce it before that, then this is something we are actively considering. “
He also went on to say that the duration of VAR intervention this season was significantly reduced compared to before. The average VAR check now takes 40 seconds, compared to last season when it was one minute and six seconds.
Read the latest sports news and get new updates on X and Facebook
