According to Reuters, the Premier League (PL) may introduce semi-automated offside technology before the end of the 2024-25 season following “significant” progress in testing, according to Chief Football Officer Tony Scholes.
Semi-automated offside technology has been in use in major tournaments such as FIFA and UEFA competitions. It helps limit the need for long waits for Video Assistant Referee (VAR) reviews, where match officials manually check if a player is offside or not, while also reducing the margin for error.
During a shareholders’ meeting last year, PL clubs unanimously agreed to introduce the technology. It was supposed to be implemented before Christmas, but there were issues with testing and Scholes conceded to having “severe doubts.”
However, on Tuesday, Scholes told the media:
“The progress made over the last four to six weeks has been significant. So, we believe we're going to be adopting the best system and the most accurate system…
The EFL [English Football League] has introduced it into the League Cup this year. We will monitor it... Clearly, if we're not confident until the last two or three match rounds, I think you then arrive at a pragmatic place where you just say, it wouldn't make sense to introduce it now…
But if we're able to introduce it in advance of that, then it's something that we're actively considering.”
League officials hope the technology will reduce the time taken to check offsides by 31 seconds.
Scholes voiced: “This technology doesn't improve the accuracy, it makes the process more efficient…
Why wouldn't you introduce it if you are absolutely confident it is ready?”
According to BBC Sport, 13 VAR mistakes have been made in the PL so far this season.
Four incorrect VAR interventions and nine missed interventions from the first 23 rounds of games have been found by the competition's Key Match Incidents (KMI) panel.
The league says the accuracy of KMI is at 96.4% - up from 95.7% at the corresponding point last term.
The KMI panel is made up of three former players or managers, alongside a specialist from the Premier League and one from the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOL).
“Nobody here underestimates the significance and the impact of one single error…
We know that one single error can cost clubs. Points and results can cost managers positions, potentially players their place,” Scholes expressed.
This was the case for former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag. One of the four incorrect VAR interventions was the penalty given against his Manchester United side in what proved to be his final match as manager.
Additionally, referees and managers are also subject to serious abuse. For example, the Professional Game Match Officials Board reported the death threats, and “abhorrent abuse” aimed at referee Michael Oliver over his decision to give player Lewis-Skelly the red card in the Arsenal vs Wolves match which has now been reversed on appeal.
At the time, the Premier League’s match centre agreed Lewis-Skelly’s challenge was “serious foul play” and said the Video Assistant Referee, Darren England, checked and confirmed Oliver’s decision.
Oliver’s subsequent mistreatment was so severe that the police had to investigate, highlighting the growing issue of abuse towards football officials and managers.
Therefore, it is argued that the expansion of technology will help diminish the abuse referees, managers and players face. People argue that technology is far more reliable and undisputable and eliminates the risk of inadvertent and inevitable human error.
There have also been other methods adopted recently to attempt to prevent fans from contesting and degrading referees. As reported by BBC Sport, match officials in German football's two top tiers have trialled announcing decisions made by the Video Assistant Referee to the crowd.
This system was also trialled during the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. It was also trialled in England in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, with Stuart Attwell explaining a goal by Tottenham's Dominic Solanke being ruled out for offside against Liverpool on 8 January 2025.
Nine clubs, including Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen, volunteered to be part of the trial across the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2. The first trial took place between 1-2 February 2025 across 5 games.
This idea was created to “increase the transparency of referee decisions” and “ensure greater understanding among the fans,” said Ansgar Schwenken, the Director of Match Operation and Fans at the German Football League (DFL), Germany's governing body.
The Premier League said in a meeting last summer that in-game VAR announcements would be put in place at some point this season. However, as things stand, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) rules prevent it from doing so.
