DOHA — A semi-automated offside system could
be used at this year’s World Cup with the
International Football Association Board, the guardian of the laws of the game, set to discuss the introduction of
the technology in Doha on Monday.
اضافة اعلان
The optical tracking system was trialed at the
FIFA Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi earlier this year and had also been tested at the
Arab Cup in Qatar last December.
The IFAB will not itself decide whether the
technology should be in place at the World Cup but if it offers approval then
world football’s governing body could go ahead with its introduction.
“The semi-automated offside system still needs to be
evaluated before a final decision is taken,” FIFA told AFP, adding that it was
simply “an additional tool to help the VAR”.
Pierluigi Collina, chairman of FIFA’s referees
committee, said earlier this year that the introduction of Video Assistant
Referees — first used at the World Cup in 2018 — had been “very successful” but
that making offside decisions semi-automated would mean greater accuracy and
greater speed.
“It’s important the video officials get an accurate
decision, but we are aware we need to reduce the time, particularly with
offside,” Collina said in February during the trials at the Club World Cup.
The data-driven, limb-tracking technology uses both
dedicated and broadcast cameras around the stadium to give the exact position
of players on the pitch, offering referees precise information within seconds.
The aim is for the system to generate 29 data points
per player — tracking the various parts of the body to create a skeletal,
three-dimensional model.
Once a final decision is made, the
artificial-intelligence driven technology turns the images into a 3D animation
that can be displayed on the big screen at grounds.
The term “semi-automated” is used because FIFA
insist that match officials will still make the final call, with a dedicated
VAR assistant in place to monitor offsides.
“I know that someone called it ‘robot offside’; it’s
not. The technology is simply a tool used by human beings,” said Collina.
Monday’s meeting will also discuss the topic of
concussion substitutes, which the IFAB approved in late 2020 on a trial basis
for any league wishing to take part until August of this year.
The English
Premier League was one of the leagues to
begin trialing the use of concussion substitutes in response to growing
concerns about the damage caused by head injuries in football.
The IFAB was founded in 1886 by the football
associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland as the body with sole
responsibility for developing and preserving the laws of the sport.
The four nations each have one vote while FIFA,
which joined in 1913, has four votes, with a three-quarters majority needed for
any motion to pass.
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