FIFA will test limb-tracking offside tech at the Arab Cup
FIFA is building on the video assistant referee (VAR) technology that’s playing an increasingly important role in soccer. At this year’s edition of the Arab Cup, which starts on Tuesday, the organisation will test tech designed to help officials assess whether players are offside, marking the most important trial of the system to date.
The offside rule is supposed to prevent players from lingering too close to the opponent’s goal. In a nutshell, if an attacking team plays the ball forward when a teammate is ahead of both the ball and the second-to-last defender (including the goalkeeper), that’s a foul. In the 2020-21 English Premier League season, 32 goals were ruled out for offside after VAR review.
Semi-automated offside technology explained ahead of FIFA Arab Cup. Pierluigi Collina and Johannes Holzmüller explain the advancement of the tests to date. This technology will be tested at the FIFA Arab Cup 2021™ #FIFArabCup#FootballTechnology
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— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) November 29, 2021
The semi-automated offside system collects up to 29 data points 50 times per second for each player, according to the BBC. Between 10 and 12 cameras will be installed under the …read more
