Soccer
The chip in the ball comes: Fifa uses semi-automatic offside technology at the World Cup in Qatar
Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema (white jersey) scores a goal against Liverpool FC in the Champions League final which was disallowed for offside
© Peter Byrne / DPA
In Qatar, for the first time at a World Cup, the referees will receive help from a semi-automatic system for offside decisions. Will robots soon make all decisions? The Fifa referee chief says: no.
With semi-automatic offside technology, Fifa wants to make the decisions of the video referees faster and more reliable at the World Cup. As the World Football Association announced on Friday, the system will be used in the 64 tournament games in Qatar. “We are ready to use it. We are satisfied with the test results, we are continuing our work,” Fifa chief referee Pierluigi Collina said in a digital media interview about the new technology. “We want accurate decisions,” added the Italian.
The new measuring technology for offside decisions was last tested at the Arab Cup and the Club World Cup in February. A 500 Hertz signal in the ball and a dozen cameras that record the player’s movements via data points are used to record the position of players who may be offside even more precisely than before. The data is checked by a video assistant and immediately forwarded to the referee on the field.
More precise measurement should also save time
According to Collina, in addition to more precise measurements, they also hope to save time. So far, offside checks would take around 70 seconds, with the new system you can reduce it to around 25 seconds. The fans in the stadium should be informed about the decisions via video screens. “Fifa wants to continue to promote technology to improve football at all levels,” Fifa President Gianni Infantino was quoted as saying in a statement.
Collina again contradicted the accusation that the technology would replace the referees with robots. “I know that some are talking about an offside robot, which is wrong because ultimately the referee and assistant referees still decide,” said the former top referee.
An end to the development is not in sight. But: “The referee remains the final decision-maker,” said Collina. The introduction of the video referee is a success story. “The game is cleaner, there is no more tugging in standard situations,” said Collina – and swallows and simulation have completely disappeared.
