The Premier League League have rejected the use of SOAT, an automated offside system aimed at erasing VAR blunders next season.
A number of games in the just-concluded 2022/23 season was mired up in wrangles due to a number of controversial VAR decisions.
The accuracy of VAR decisions came under intense scrutiny as concerns mount over some obvious blindspots that tore fans and match officials apart.
Fans and coaching staff were pitted against each other with some subjective elements of the game such as fouls and offsides calls which was sometimes overlooked by the device.
A notable incident was Harry Kane’s last-minute equaliser against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge early in the season. Cristian Romero allegedly fouled Marc Cucurella in the buildup to the goal after he clung to Cucurella’s hair dragging him to the ground before Harry Kane nodded home the equaliser from a cornerkick.
The incident fell on VAR blindspot and was overlooked.
Also, in the Arsenal home draw against Brentford, Brenford player, Christian Norgaard was offside before Ivan Toney’s equaliser against the Gunners. The offside call was overlooked by the VAR.
Many other cases of obvious VAR blunders raised eyebrows in the season, sparking calls for a more sophisticated technology to curb such incidents.
Initially, reports claimed that the Premier League were ready to improve the VAR system by adding four more cameras on the field of play.
Another option on the table was trying out the Semi-automated Offside Technology (SOAT) which was used in the 2022 World Cup.
How does SOAT work?
The Semi-automated Offside Technology, SOAT, is just like goal-line technology but it is a mobile version of the goal-line technology. It tracks movements on the pitch rather than the static goal-line.
Semi-automated Offside Technology tracks the limbs of players to verify whether they are in offside positions and sends real time information to the VAR room with speed.
It collates data on 29 data points from the players’ arms, feet, and head, 50 times every second and relay same to the VAR officials. With the SOAT, match delays and accuracy problems on offside calls were drastically reduced.
Premier League spurn Semi-automated Offside Technology for next season
The Semi-automated Offside Technology was successfully deployed in the 2022 World Cup and the 2023 UEFA Conference League Final between West Ham United and Fiorentina but has not made it to the Premier League agenda.
According to the Sun, the Premier League, who was reportedly keen on deploying the device next season as per reports from the Athletic, has now jettisoned it for the four-camera alternative.
The Semi-automated Offside Technology is reportedly left out of the Premier League agenda in the mid-June Annual General Meeting involving all the 20 Premier League clubs before the season starts.
They have opted to install four more cameras on Premier League grounds to add more clarity to VAR decisions and curb controversial incidents.
The report by the Mirror adds the Premier League executives are opting for the four-camera option because they believe the Semi-automated Offside Technology will take a while to make a difference.
Meanwhile, Spanish topflight, La Liga, have adopted the technology and will deploy it next season.
