Three and a half years after its implementation, the doubts, suspicions and waste of time that the video arbitration system (VAR) still generates in drawing the lines that mark offside when it is very tight have led to the FIFA to experience a new infringement detection system.
This has been successfully tested in the Arab Cup and in the last Club World Cup won by Chelsea in the United Arab Emirates.
The intention of the body that governs world football is to introduce it in the next World Cup in Qatar 2022. "If it does not give many problems with the operation, we will see it in the next World Cup," say arbitration sources from the Spanish Football Federation, who It had a representation of members who were shown the new technology.
Called semi-automatic offside, the tool being tested makes it possible to accurately calculate the moment when the ball is hit by the passer and the position of forwards and defenders involved in the play by installing cameras on stadium roofs.
Ten cameras dedicated exclusively to geolocation, as well as several for television transmission, were installed on the roofs of the stadiums where the Club World Cup was played to track 18 data points for each player.
The number of data points is expected to increase to 29 when the World Cup takes place in Qatar.
This data, collected 50 times per second,
they are transmitted to the AVAR (Assistant Referee in the Video Operations Room) specifically dedicated to offside decisions to verify and make their recommendation to the VAR and referee on the field.
The process happens in real time, which makes it easy to make offside decisions in a few seconds.
The cases in which the decision lasts for minutes have been frequent since the implementation of the VAR with the consequent loss of continuity in the game.
“We know that it is not easy to be fast and precise.
This is why we are thinking of a technology that can make decisions [MORE] precisely and as quickly as possible,” warned Pierluigi Collina, FIFA's director of refereeing, during a demonstration to referees who traveled to Abu Dhabi last week.
One of the advantages of the new technology is that it allows defining the exact point of the extremities.
“We know where the shoulder or the knee is, for example.
Also, taking that data, we can create 3D animations that can perfectly explain if a player was offside and what part of his body is forward.
The new technology created uneasiness among the arbitration group, mainly among the attendees, considering that it could lead to its disappearance.
“I know someone called it offside robot and it's not.
Referees and assistants remain responsible for decisions on the field of play.
The technology only provides them with valuable support to make more accurate and faster decisions, especially when the offside incident is very tight and very difficult”, Collina concluded.</CW>
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