English Premier League 2024-25: Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Set For A Major Change - All You Need To Know

The 2024/25 English Premier League is all set to kick-off tonight, August 17, Saturday (IST) as Manchester United welcome Fulham at Old Trafford. The new season brings in new teams, new faces as well as new rules. (More Football News)

Yes, new rules! The Premier League have announced some major changes to the 2024/25 season including the VAR wherein it will have semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) for the football games.

PGMOL's chief refereeing officer Howard Webb confirmed these plans and said that this will make the game quicker in the league.

“The technology will provide quicker and consistent placement of the virtual offside line, based on optical player tracking,” the league said, “and will produce high-quality broadcast graphics to ensure an enhanced in-stadium and broadcast experience for supporters.”

Semi-automated offside technology was used at a World Cup for the first time in Qatar in 2022. For that tournament, there was a sensor in the ball to track its acceleration but that won’t be the case in the Premier League, which looks set to be more aligned with the system used by UEFA in the Champions League.

How Will It Work?

Multiple cameras will track player movements and record data points on parts of the body that are relevant for an offside decision. Data is processed with artificial intelligence to create a 3D offside line that is alerted to the team of VAR officials.

It is expected to take an average of around 30 seconds off the length of time it currently takes VAR officials to come to a decision manually, and improve confidence in decision-making after some high-profile mistakes.

During a game, if the on-field referee calls in for the VAR assistance, the latter will only provide one if they can "see without any doubt the on-pitch official has made a clear mistake".

Or else, the on-field call from the referee stands as it is. This will ensure that the game goes on without any delays and won't allow any repeated visuals.

Semi-automated offside technology is already in use in Italy’s Serie A.

(With AP inputs)