Premier League Aims to Introduce Semi-Automated VAR Offside Technology This Season Despite Delays

The Premier League has announced that “significant progress” has been made in testing semi-automated VAR offside technology (SAOT) in recent weeks, with the league still planning to introduce the new system during the current 2024-25 season. The decision to bring in SAOT was unanimously voted for by clubs nearly a year ago, with the intention of reducing the time taken for an offside check by an average of 31 seconds.

Despite initial plans to implement the technology “after one of the Autumn international breaks,” the system was not ready at the start of the season. As the calendar moved into 2025, it appeared that SAOT might not be introduced in the current campaign. However, Tony Scholes, the Premier League’s chief football officer, revealed on Tuesday that the league is making significant progress in testing the technology.

“We are still testing it, but we are making significant progress,” Scholes said. “We’re in a different place to when I spoke to managers just over Christmas, we’ve made a lot of progress in this area. Now I’m hopeful that at some point this season we will be able to introduce semi-automated technology but I repeat the points I’ve made a number of times. We are not going to introduce it if we’ve got any doubts at all with regards to its operation.”

SAOT removes the manual element of placing lines on players and the pitch, making the process quicker and more accurate. It also provides an improved graphical visualization of offside decisions compared to the existing method of displaying lines on the broadcast camera. While FIFA and UEFA have used an enhanced system with a chip inside the ball for better detection of when the ball has been touched, the Premier League has chosen to develop its own system.

“The system that we’ve adopted, we believe it to be the best system,” Scholes added. “We believe it to be the most accurate and the most futureproof system as well and that’s why we went with that. I have to confess, given the difficulties that we had over the first few months of the season, I had severe doubts about this, but the progress made over the last four to six weeks has been significant. We believe we’re going to be adopting the best system and the most accurate system without the need for the chip in the ball.”

Scholes also defended the prospect of switching from the legacy VAR offside technology to SAOT when the majority of the season will have been played, stating, “Fundamentally, the operation of semi-automated offside technology does not change the integrity of the offside law and doesn’t change the integrity of the decision making. What it does is makes the process more efficient. So if we hold true to that basis that we’re not actually changing the integrity of it, we’re just making it more efficient, you arrive at a place that says, well, why wouldn’t you introduce it when you’re absolutely confident it’s ready.”

The Premier League also revealed that the number of VAR errors after 23 games had fallen from 20 last season to 13 in the 2024-25 campaign, according to statistics produced by the league’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel. Scholes attributed this improvement to the Elite Referee Development Plan, which aims to fast-track promising referees through the levels.

Looking ahead, the Premier League intends to introduce referees announcing VAR decisions to the crowd at the start of next season, following successful trials in the Carabao Cup semifinals. The league will continue to lobby for change with the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which controls VAR protocol, with the ultimate goal of providing fans inside the stadium with “at least an equal experience as to those at home” when it comes to VAR decisions.

The 13 VAR errors in the Premier League this season, as identified by the KMI Panel, are as follows:

Incorrect interventions (4):

1. AFC Bournemouth 1-1 Newcastle United, Aug. 25 – Dango Ouattara goal disallowed for handball (’90+2)
2. West Ham United 2-1 Manchester United, Oct. 27 – Penalty awarded for a foul by Matthijs de Ligt on Danny Ings (’90+2)
3. Everton 0-0 Brentford, Nov. 23 – Christian Nørgaard sent off for serious foul play (’39)
4. Nottingham Forest 3-2 Southampton, Jan. 19 – No Chris Wood offside offence on goal (’64)

Missed interventions (9):

1. Man United 0-3 Tottenham Hotspur, Sept. 29 – Serious foul play, red card to Bruno Fernandes (’41)
2. Aston Villa 2-2 Crystal Palace, Nov. 23 – DOGSO, red card not given to Ian Maatsen (’65)
3. Everton 4-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers, Dec. 4 – Abdoulaye Doucouré offside offence on goal (’72)
4. Nottingham Forest 2-1 Aston Villa, Dec. 14 – Penalty not awarded. Foul by Elliot Anderson (’34)*
5. West Ham 1-1 Brighton & Hove Albion, Dec. 21 – Serious foul play, red card not given to Pervis Estupiñán (’84)
6. Brighton 0-0 Brentford, Dec. 27 – Violent conduct, red card not given to João Pedro (’75)
7. West Ham 0-5 Liverpool, Dec. 29 – Penalty not awarded. Foul by Alexis Mac Allister (’35)
8. Ipswich Town 0-2 Brighton, Jan. 19 – Penalty not awarded. Foul by Wes Burns (’11)
9. Wolves 0-1 Arsenal, Jan. 25 – Serious foul play, red card to Myles Lewis-Skelly (’43)

*Panel stated the penalty may not have been awarded due to a prior foul but this should have been decided on review.