The 2022 FIFA World Cup To Use Semi-automatic Offside Technology, Helps Referees Make More Accurate Decisions

Semi-automatic offside technology to be used at the 2022 FIFA World Cup (photo: FIFA)

JAKARTA - FIFA announced that the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar will use the VAR (Video Assistant Referee) system from 21 November. This tool is known as semi-automatic offside technology, to help them make faster and more accurate decisions about offside decisions.

Following the successful use of VAR technology at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, FIFA President Gianni Infantino stated in his Vision 2020-2023 that FIFA will seek to harness the full potential of technology in football and further enhance VAR.

This updated technology will replace the old VAR system. The new system uses 12 special tracking cameras installed under the roof of the stadium to track the ball and up to 29 data points from each player. Then these 29 data points collected cover all relevant limbs and extremities to make an offside call

"By working closely with adidas and various partners, and in particular with the Working Group on Innovation Excellence and technology providers, FIFA has spent the last few years further improving the VAR system, including the use of semi-automatic offside technology," FIFA wrote in a release, July 5.

"VAR has had a very positive impact on football and we can see that the number of major errors has reduced dramatically. We hope that the semi-automatic offside technology can take us one step further," said Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA Refereeing Committee.

According to him, this semi-automatic offside technology can offer faster and more accurate decisions, compared to without using VAR technology.

Further tests will be carried out in the coming months to fine-tune the system before global standards are implemented to ensure that the new technology can be used in world football.

All details regarding the semi-automatic offside technology setup and the connected ball technology will be presented to the teams qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup at the Team Workshop in Doha on 4 and 5 July and then shared publicly.