The World Cup in Qatar will witness a new offside detecting technology. The semi-automated technology will help referees detect players who are offside quickly.
If you’re the type who does not like the influence of technology on football, then look away. FIFA is adding another technological improvement to football. For purists, the game takes beauty from its innocence and natural state. The human angle and controversies make it attractive and wildly popular, yet the game continues to drift from its original status.
Football was a simple game, understood by the layman, but now, one needs a law degree to understand the game. More and more rules come up to make it fairer.
There is plenty of money in football, and the stakes have grown. It means the threshold for error is lower, and it is why there are different rules churned out often to give the game a semblance of fairness and justice.
FIFA is ready to add another advancement to the game. It will kick-off at the World Cup in Qatar later this year. New technology to quickly detect offside will be implemented at the World Cup and might be a constant feature of football after the tournament.
FIFA introduces new technology at the World Cup
In the last World Cup in 2018, FIFA introduced the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). The football body is still transforming the game. The football governing body announced their intention to implement new offside technology at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
FIFA are on a quest to limit every error in football that might brew controversies in the game. One wrong call by the referee could change the game with lasting effects.
How it will work
To make better offside decisions, referees will have a system called “semi-automated offside technology” to aid them. It will send an alert to the video match officials. The system also includes 3D graphics for the watching fans, both in the stadium and at home. The 3D graphics will amplify vividly any infringement.
The system is like the goal-line technology but will function with a chip inside the match ball assisted by 12 cameras inside the stadium. The cameras will help track players and help the referee determine if a player has strayed offside.
FIFA are still working on the intricacies of the system. While FIFA is working on adding another condiment to football to aid efficiency in its decision-making, many questions remain unanswered. How will the system work, and how will the referees use it?
Questions over decisions and if the referee can overturn them remain. Will it make the job of assistant referees easier?
VAR has had its criticisms, and one of them is that decisions are slow, and it can be frustrating when a goal is disallowed for an infraction as little as an attacker being a millimetre offside. It has been a point of reference for some leagues and has ruled that any part of a player’s body they cannot score with, like the hand or arm, cannot be offside.
How successful will the new semi-automated offside technology be? Will it move the sport forward or drag it back with the implementation of this new technology. Perhaps, FIFA should consider scrapping the offside rule entirely.
