Manchester United and their fellow Premier League clubs have learnt when new offside technology will be implemented following a new statement.
Manchester United are preparing to face Nottingham Forest away from home on Tuesday evening in their return to Premier League action.
Before that game, the Premier League have released a statement on the new semi-automated offside technology and when it will be implemented.
It has successfully been used in the World Cup and Champions League and was initially supposed to be introduced to the Premier League at the beginning of the season.
However, it was reported back in September that semi-automated offsides would be delayed for England’s top flight until February – and that has ended up being even longer.
Offside decisions regularly cause frustration amongst fanbases, especially when the VAR takes several minutes to come to a decision. This rule change is expected to improve that wait-time.
Premier League release statement on rule change
On Tuesday afternoon, the Premier League released a statement confirming that semi-automated offsides would be introduced on Saturday 12 April.
United will not have the technology available for their evening kick-off against Forest, nor the upcoming Manchester Derby this weekend. Instead, Ruben Amorim’s side will first have it in use for their away trip to Newcastle on Sunday 13 April.
“The Premier League will introduce semi-automated offside technology on Saturday 12 April (Match Round 32). This follows non-live testing in the Premier League and live operation in the FA Cup this season,” a statement from the League read.
“Semi-automated offside technology automates key elements of the offside decision-making process to support the video assistant referee (VAR). It provides more efficient placement of the virtual offside line, using optical player tracking, and generates virtual graphics to ensure an enhanced in-stadium and broadcast experience for fans.
“The technology maintains the integrity of the process while enhancing the speed, efficiency, and consistency of offside decision-making. The Premier League has worked in collaboration with PGMOL and sports data and technology company Genius Sports to develop the new semi-automated offside technology system.”
Semi-automated offsides will help Premier League
One of the major problems about decision-making in the Premier League is that there is a lot of subjectivity with most of the calls made.
Some fans think a penalty should’ve been given, others believe the contact was too soft. There is not always a right answer.
However, offsides are one of the few aspects in football where there is always a right decision – even if some people may not like the fact a goal will be ruled out due to a toenail being offside.
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The worst part about the offsides, as mentioned before, is the time fans spend waiting to hear a decision and semi-automated offsides should help with that a lot.
While the officiating in England is far from perfect, this is one aspect that should help improve the process, even if it’s a delayed introduction.
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