The biggest criticism of video assistant referees (VARs) in football is that it takes too long, affecting the flow of the match. In some cases, according to FIFA, VAR has taken up to four minutes to make an offside decision. Now, a technology has been proposed that promises to reduce that time to just three or four seconds.
Semi-automatic VaR, an artificial-intelligence-based technology, is likely to be deployed at the World Cup later this year, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the game’s rules-making body, has indicated. .
“It looks great and very promising,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Monday. “Our experts are watching [the trials] Before we take a decision on whether it will be used for the World Cup or not.”
What is Semi-Automated VAR?
In essence, it is a way of making quick offside decisions rather than the current system where it is often difficult to determine how long the VAR will take.
The idea is to deploy AI-based technology, which uses automatic ball detection. It will create 3D models of the player’s position in real-time, thus improving the accuracy of kick points by using tracking data and sensor technology from the camera system, as well as a player’s skeleton, to identify which part of the body model will be prepared. is at the fore.
According to Football Technology and Innovation Director Johannes Holzmüller, it is ‘based on limb-tracking technology, or as some call it skeletal-tracking technology.’ “We call this a semi-automated offside because it is still, ultimately, the VAR that has to validate and confirm the proposed offside line and the proposed kick point emanating from the software, and then the VAR notifies the referee on the pitch of the decision. About,” Holzmüller told FIFA’s Living Football Show.
10 to 12 cameras
Holzmüller told the Living Football Show that the semi-automated offside is a camera-based system in which they would place 10-12 cameras inside the stadium and under the roof. “These cameras are following players and tracking 29 data points 50 times per second, and this data is then processed and computed in near real time, by software, by artificial intelligence, and it automatically VAR is sent to and replay operator,” he had said.
He said the focus was first on identifying the exact moment the ball was kicked. And then, the second part is to find out which part of the attacker’s body or the other last defender is closest to the goal-line.
Power still with the referee
FIFA’s chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Colina said the final decision was still with field officials and that the technology was only to help them reach a more accurate decision. “The referee and assistant referee are still responsible for decisions on the field of play. Technology only gives them valuable support to make more accurate and quick decisions, especially when the offside event is very tight and very difficult,” he said of the Club World Cup. Said at a launch event.
However, this will likely put an end to the delayed offside flag, which has disappointed many players and fans. “Will the semi-automated offside be removed from the delayed flag for offside? The answer will almost certainly be yes,” David Allere, MPs technical director at IFAB, was quoted as saying by ESPN. What fans currently hate. Is he in? Can I celebrate? Is this a goal?”
club world cup trials
The technology was tested at the FIFA Arab Cup in December, but it wasn’t until the FIFA Club World Cup in February that we got to see what fans would look like VAR offside.
The new Hawk-Eye system creates a 3D simulation of offside decisions and fans can now see if a player is offside as the simulation moves across players.
FIFA is conducting trials in youth football in the Netherlands, Italy and Sweden. It is reported that the Premier League is considering implementing this technology from the 2023-24 season. This will happen only if it succeeds in the World Cup.
FIFA on its part is confident about it. “We want to achieve accuracy, quicker judgment and more accepted decisions,” Colina said on Monday. “We have seen in matches where the semi-automatic offside was implemented[and]these objectives were achieved.”