SEMI-automated offsides will be trialled at the Vitality Stadium in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
According to the Guardian, the Football Association has agreed to conduct an experiment using the technology with the goal of introducing it in the Premier League before the end of the season.
The systems’ release has been delayed due to testing concerns, with initial plans for earlier this season.
However, there were worries about its correctness, so the launch was delayed.
However, the technology has been refined over the last month, with the Guardian reporting that its effectiveness has increased ‘considerably’.
As a result, Howard Webb, the chief executive of Professional Game Match Officials Limited, and Tony Scholes, the league’s chief football officer, have approved the technology.
Seven of the eight ties in the FA Cup’s fifth round are scheduled to take place at Premier League venues, giving the FA an opportunity to test the technology.
The other match is in Championship Preston.
Bournemouth has had a number of goals disallowed by VAR this season, including for offside, such as on the season’s first day at Nottingham Forest and at home against Liverpool, when the VAR validated the on-field offside decision.
The hope is that semi-automated offsides will reduce VAR decision-making time by greater than 30 seconds.
It employs camera video and tracking algorithms to determine the position of players at the potential offside line.
This implies that VARs would not have to manually place lines on still photos, though they may be asked to review offside judgments depending on the intricacy of the assessment.
Last April, Premier League clubs voted unanimously in favor of implementing semi-automated offsides, and the league plans to inform teams about the proposed trial at its shareholders’ meeting today, Thursday.
Scholes stated last week that he had “severe” misgivings, but that subsequent advancements have convinced him that the technology will be the “best system and the most accurate system”.
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