Premier League decide AGAINST using World Cup-style technology – but huge changes to VAR are confirmed
PREMIER LEAGUE chiefs have decided against using World Cup-style offside technology next season.
But extra VAR cameras WILL be brought in at every top flight ground – in a bid to stop two of the blunders that took place last term.
Fifa’s Semi-Automated Offside Technology used limb-tracking cameras to pinpoint the exact position of every player on the pitch, plus a chip in the ball to determine if it was played by a defender or attacker.
The cameras were then deployed to provide a computer-generated 3D animation that was shown on stadium big screens and by broadcasters.
Fifa’s system was a big success, as was Uefa’s use of SAOT – although European chiefs opted to use the version that did not include the chip in ball technology.
It was expected that the Prem would seek to adopt the system for next season, which is the path that is being taken by La Liga in Spain.
But instead the option to bring in SAOT for next term is NOT on the agenda for next week’s Annual Meeting of the 20 top flight clubs in Hampshire.
Instead, an extra four offside cameras will be used at every game, with Prem bosses and PGMOL agreeing this should prevent a recurrence of two controversial incidents last term, both involving Liverpool.
Arsenal’s early opener in the 3-2 win over the Merseysiders was allowed because the cameras did not pick up the position of Bukayo Saka when the ball was played forward to him wide on the Gunners’ right.
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Subsequent footage, not available at the time, suggested the England star had come back from an offside position but with no evidence to overturn the initial offside decision, the goal stood.
Liverpool, though, were the beneficiaries of the other incident, in their FA Cup tie at home to Wolves.
Julen Lopetegui’s team thought they had scored a late winner through Toto Gomes.
But the goal was ruled out by a late flag determining that Matheus Nunes retreated from an offside position after taking the initial corner.
Once again, other images, not available to the VAR crew at Stockley Park, suggested the decision should have been overturned but with Nunes in the “blind spot” of the VAR cameras the goal did not count.
ITV were using the “standard” five calibration cameras and 17 in total for the FA Cup tie, three cameras fewer than typically used in a Prem game.
But the addition of four extra cameras, which is expected to go through on the nod when the club chiefs meet, is felt sufficient to ensure no repeats.
League bosses believe they can wait to introduce any version of SAOT and that the evolution of technology will be so rapid in the coming weeks that introducing the system now would be premature as it would soon be rendered out of date.