Sports News | FIFA Testing Semi-automated VAR Offside Technology at Club World Cup

Abu Dhabi, Feb 10 (AP) When football welcomed VAR (Video Assistant Referee) technology, not everyone saw it as a step in the right direction.

Long delays over tight offside decisions have been blamed for slowing down games, but now FIFA is hoping that its revolutionary semi-automated offside technology (SAOT), currently being trialled at the Club World Cup, may offer a solution.

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Artificial Intelligence software is used to track every player allowing for a definitive - and speedy - decision on whether a player is offside.

Delays will be a thing of the past as animated illustrations can be flashed up on big screens in stadiums within just three seconds.

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Pierluigi Collini, the chairman of FIFA's Referee Committee, was clear that the new technology should not be seen as "robot offside", stressing that match officials will still have the final say.

Should the trial prove successful, FIFA will aim to bring in SAOT for the World Cup in Qatar at the end of the year. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)