Union of European Football Association (UEFA) is set to introduce new offside technology in the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League Group stages, which kick off on September 6, 2022. The new technology is designed to keep track of players’ positions on the pitch while perfectly reading offside positions during matches.
Much of the on-pitch and off-pitch controversies on offsides during matches may be a thing of the past as football has welcome other VAR-like technology to read and determine offside positions during games. European football governing body UEFA is set to introduce the Hawk-eye technology into the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stage matches. The Hawk-eye technology will be deployed in more football tournaments, but the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stages will be the first official football tournament to utilize the technology.
How Does Hawk-Eye Works?
Hawk-eye uses built-in cameras to track players’ positions on the pitch. It is designed just like VAR to read even the slightest of offside positions on the rise as accurately as possible. It has 12 cameras under the roof. Hawk-eye will track the ball and 29 points on each player 50 times every second to plot their skeleton and collect 180 million pieces of information in a match.
Like VAR, there is a provision for a replay of the incident, which will be captured in a matter of seconds before a final decision is made. Hence the linesman and his offside flag will not be swept off his role. The officials will still pass a final verdict on whether an incident is an offside or not. Fans will also have the opportunity to watch the scenario again, including supporters at the stadium.
How Reliable is The Hawk-Eye Technology?
The Hawk-eye utilizes a three-dimensional graphic to track even the slightest of offsides in a game. It will capture 29 points in a player within a split of a second to analyze offside positions. The footage on the player is sent to the VAR in a few seconds and the decision will be shown from a perfect Camera angle.
Also, there are 12 extra cameras to track players’ limbs. The 12 additional cameras will be placed under the stadium’s roof to follow up on the ball and the body parts of the players to reach an accurate decision even on the tightest offsides. It will pinpoint the exact moment the ball is being played and the exact positions of players on the pitch. Before a player could celebrate his goal, Hawk-eye will complete its capturing and transmits decision as quickly as possible.
2022/23 UEFA Champions League
The group stage of the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League will kick off on Tuesday, 6 September 2022. Defending champions Real Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Manchester City, Juventus, and AC Milan, are all in action on the opening matchday one fixture. Tickets for the games will be available on various online platforms such as FootballTickets.net. You can watch the games live on UEFA.com and other football channels.
