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Six months ago we reported (see below) on an exclusive from The Times, they said that finally VAR in the Premier League would be using semi-automated offsides, which have been widely used elsewhere for some years.
It had long ago been universally accepted (outside of Premier League HQ anyway!) that by using the semi-automated offsides, it significantly helps swift correct decisions being made, plus at least just as importantly, delivers a far better experience for football fans.
That May 2024 exclusive from The Times, was then confirmed officially by the Premier League on 14 August 2024.
An official Premier League statement saying that the semi-automated offsides would be used as from sometime this Autumn (2024).
Well that hasn’t happened!
Instead there have been rumours/claims that instead it will be sometime early in 2025 when these semi-automated offsides are brought in.
However… another exclusive from The Times (see below) now reports that it could well be NEXT season, before the Premier League manages to do this.
They say that the preferred system they want to bring in, has now run into problems that are set to delay its introduction.
This is absolutely woeful from the Premier League, a total disgrace.
The semi-automated offsides have been widely used elsewhere now for years, so why didn’t the Premier League just use the same system???
Instead, we are still seeing the unbelievable sight of VAR officials drawing lines on a screen to often comical effect, which though isn’t a laughing matter for those negatively impacted by it. Plus of course, all of those fans at the match and watching from home, having to wait for ages before these lines are drawn.
Martyn Ziegler report for The Times – 19 November 2024:
‘Premier League clubs fear that semi-automated offside technology may not be introduced into the top flight this season as testing on its selected system continues.
It is two years since Fifa used such a system — which employs extra cameras and artificial intelligence to judge when players are offside — at the World Cup and it has since been adopted by Uefa in the Champions League and European domestic leagues.
It was originally due to be introduced into the Premier League this autumn to replace the Hawk-Eye system, where lines are drawn manually on a screen by a VAR technician and can lead to lengthy delays of two minutes or more.
However, clubs were told that failures in the system being 100 per cent accurate has delayed it at least until next year, and some club figures believe that there is a strong chance of it not coming in at all this season.
The delay is understood to be down to occasional “black spots” being identified in testing where lots of bodies are around the ball. Clubs are expected to be given an update on the results at a meeting on Friday.
Part of the delay may be that the Premier League has chosen to use a different system to the one employed by Fifa, Uefa and other leagues.
It has agreed a deal with Second Spectrum, an American software company which is part of Genius Sports, to provide the technology for a “mesh” system. The technology is said to use “force fields” to identify when attackers are ahead of defenders.
The league hopes it will cut delays in offside decisions by an average of 31 seconds.’
Premier League official statement – 14 August 2024:
‘When it will be introduced?
Semi-automated offside technology won’t be ready for the start of the season on 16 August, but is expected to be ready to be used from after one of the autumn international breaks.’
Absolutely ridiculous that the Premier League didn’t even have it ready to go for the start of this season, especially after all of these years of similar systems used successfully in other league and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar etc etc.
Things have now got even more embarrassing.
Following the regular meeting of all 20 Premier League clubs on Thursday to discuss various issues, vote on certain matters. It has now been widely reported that VAR using semi-automated offsides is to be further delayed, with sometime in 2025 now said to be the earliest they will be used in the Premier League.
The irony… as always, having to wait so long for a VAR decision due to an unnecessary delay!
The Mag report – 20 June 2024:
This perfectly sums up the incompetence of the Premier League with VAR.
Just as we all saw at the World Cup in Qatar a year and a half ago, using semi-automated offsides is a no-brainer.
Sadly, when it comes to the Premier League and how they go about things, there is clearly no such thing as a no-brainer…
At these 2024 European Championships we are seeing match after match why semi-automated offsides should have been utilised from the start in the Premier League.
Instead, years later we still don’t have them, the Premier League choosing to have somebody drawing dodgy lines in a prefab and then getting out the magnifying glass. All the time, effort and money to put in place cutting edge technology, then this is how the Premier League choose to implement it!!!
As I say, watching all these Euro matches, instead of having some clown taking forever drawing dodgy lines and using a magnifying glass, the semi-automated offsides give an almost instant decision, the game swiftly restarts and I have seen few, if any, complaints/challenges to countless offside decisions made at this tournament using the semi-automated system.
The good news is that the Premier League ARE finally after all these years, accepting (see below) that semi-automated offsides have to be used.
The bad news is, this won’t happen until well into the 2024/25 Premier League season…
This is totally unacceptable, why does everything take so long for the Premier League to put right? If it ever does…
Why can’t they just bring/buy in the semi-automated offside system that is being used in these 2024 Euros for the start of the new season?
My earlier report on The Mag – 30 May 2024:
An interesting update on the Premier League and VAR offside checks.
Martyn Ziegler is Chief Sports Writer at The Times and he has the inside track on what is set to happen later this year.
Newcastle United fans and those of the other Premier League clubs, have become increasingly frustrated in particular, with the delays when it comes to calls on offside.
Not only the often ridiculous length of the delay in coming to a decision BUT also the actual decisions themselves, where to the naked eye it is so difficult, often impossible, to see whether the attacking player was offside or not.
What we know for sure, is that when we were told all of the reasons why VAR was needed, it certainly wasn’t because any players were scoring goals that were possibly millimetres ‘offside’ and yet stood.
Anyway, the main man at The Times has been explaining how things are to get speeded up, as well as becoming more accurate and used credibly.
With the new system set to be operating late in 2024.
Martyn Ziegler writing for The Times – 29 May 2024:
‘The semi-automated offside system to be used by the Premier League next season will harness artificial intelligence and “force fields” to identify when attackers are ahead of defenders.
The Times has learnt that the Premier League has agreed a deal with Second Spectrum, an American software company that is part of Genius Sports, to provide the technology for the system.
It is due to start being used in the Premier League after one of the autumn international breaks — and officials hope it will cut delays in offside decisions by an average of 31 seconds.
Instead of limb-tracking, which follows up to 36 points on the body, Second Spectrum’s Dragon system captures 10,000 “surface mesh data points” per player, over 200 times per second, and should be far more accurate in determining offsides.
The semi-automated system, which has been approved by Fifa, will replace the Hawk-Eye system, where lines are drawn manually on a screen by a VAR technician and can lead to delays of two minutes or more.
Instead, the Second Spectrum system will automatically detect when attackers are offside when the ball is kicked, with AI used to provide the lines within seconds. An image is provided to the VAR, who will judge if the attacker is interfering with play or not.
A source with knowledge of the system said the “mesh” data would effectively create an invisible “force field” which, when it is pierced by part of an attacker’s body that can score a goal — ie not their arms or hands — triggers an offside message.
3D graphics will also be made available to broadcasters and for display on big screens in stadiums to show if players were offside or not when a goal is scored.
The system is still being tested after concerns that there were occasional “black spots” where it was not 100 per cent effective, according to club sources.
The Dragon technology is already the Premier League’s official tracking data and analytics partner but has not yet been used for offsides. It is also used in basketball’s NBA competition in the United States.
The Premier League clubs agreed in April to semi-automated offsides being introduced — Uefa used its own system in the Champions League last season. Hawk-Eye will continue to provide other VAR technology.’

 
