Qatar WC to use semi-automated offside system

FIFA has confirmed that a semi-automated offside system will be used at this year’s football World Cup in Qatar, reports Al Jazeera.

The new technology utilises a limb-tracking camera system to track player movements and a sensor in the ball.

It then quickly shows 3D images on stadium screens at the tournament to help fans understand the referee’s call.

It is the third World Cup in a dispute that will see FIFA introduce new technology to help referees.

The optical tracking system was trialled at the FIFA Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi earlier this year and had also been tested at the Arab Cup in Qatar last December.

“Semi-automated offside technology is an evolution of VAR systems that have been implemented across the world,” the global body’s President Gianni Infantino said in a statement on Friday. VAR is an acronym for Video Assistant Referee.

“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 World Cup 2022,” he added.

Goal-line technology was ready for the 2014 tournament in Brazil after a notorious refereeing error in 2010. In 2018, a video review to help referees judge game-changing incidents was rolled out in Russia.

The new offside system promises faster and more accurate decisions than are currently made with the VAR system, even though the 2018 World Cup avoided significant mistakes on offside calls.

Controversy has since flared in European leagues, especially where VAR officials draw on-screen lines over players for marginal calls. They have been mocked as “armpit offsides” because of the tiny margins.