FIFA issued a document today saying that the 2022 Qatar World Cup will use a new semi-automatic offside technology to provide better technical support for referees and help to rule offside.
Following the successful use of VAR (Video Assistant Referee) technology at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, FIFA has announced that it will take full advantage of the technology’s potential in football and further enhance VAR.
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According to reports, the new semi-automatic offside technology uses 12 dedicated tracking cameras installed under the stadium roof to track the football and up to 29 data points of each player, calculating their exact position on the pitch 50 times per second Location. The 29 data points collected included all limbs associated with offside penalties.
In addition, the 2022 Qatar World Cup will place an inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor inside the football, located in the center of the football, sending football data to the video operations room at a frequency of 500 times per second, allowing for very accurate detection of kicks point.
By combining limb and football tracking data and applying artificial intelligence, the new technology provides automatic offside alerts to video referees in the video operating room. Before notifying the live referee, the video referee verifies the proposed decision by manually checking the kick point and automatically creating offside lines. This process happens in seconds, which means offside judgments can be made faster and more accurately.
After confirmation by the video referee and the live referee, the exact same location data points are used to generate a 3D animation detailing the position of the player’s limbs on the pitch. This 3D animation will always show offside situations from the best angle and will then be shown on the big screen in the stadium and will also be made available to the broadcast channel to inform all spectators in the clearest possible way.
FIFA said more tests will be conducted in the coming months to fine-tune the system ahead of the World Cup on November 21. All the details about the semi-automatic offside technology and football networking technology will be shown to the teams qualified for the Qatar 2022 World Cup on July 4-5 and then shared with the public.
