The Premier League will implement new semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) from this weekend’s round of matches after successful trials in the FA Cup.
The technology has been used at the men’s and women’s World Cups since 2022, with the Champions League, Serie A and La Liga also adopting it.
The Premier League have taken their time to follow suit, but now deem their system, developed in conjunction with refereeing body the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) and tech company Genius Sports, to be fit for purpose.
Here’s what you need to know about the technology and how it will impact the Premier League moving forward.
What is semi-automated offside technology?
SAOT is a tool used by Video Assistant Referees (VARs) to automate key moments for potential offsides.
These moments include the “kick point”, i.e. the ball contact at which a player could become offside, and the positions of relevant attackers and defenders.
You can see it in action in footage from the FA Cup below:
It's a super hit from Alexander Isak, but it's ruled offside by the linesman, with the decision confirmed by the semi-automated offside technology #EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/LoTLZ18BUI
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) March 2, 2025
It is a fully automated system overseen by a VAR.
Under the previous system, a team of VARs manually monitored different elements of an offside call.
SAOT should therefore streamline offside calls, making the decision-making process more efficient.
SAOT uses optical tracking technology to monitor players’ positions in real time. It automatically generates offside lines to help determine whether an attacker is onside or offside.
Ahead of this weekend, 30 new cameras capturing 100 frames per second have been installed at every Premier League stadium.
Tottenham’s second goal against Southampton was disallowed on Sunday (Photo: Premier League)These cameras track the exact movement of the ball and data points on the bodies of all players to gauge whether or not a player is offside.
Whereas previously, VARs had to draw offside lines on the camera frame that best showed a “kick point,” SAOT does this automatically.
Unlike the SAOT used at the most recent men’s and women’s World Cups, the Premier League’s system will not use a tracking chip in the ball.
Will it eliminate errors?
The clamour for SAOT has grown during the VAR era, with Premier League fans increasingly left frustrated by how long it has taken for offside calls to be made.
The Premier League are confident that the time taken to make a decision will be reduced by 30 seconds on average with the introduction of SAOT.
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It is worth noting, though, that SAOT is only “semi-automated,” which means there will still be human input in decisions.
The Premier League has stated that SAOT will not “change the accuracy of the decision-making” but will enhance “the speed, efficiency and consistency of the process.”
VARs are still required to approve an offside decision and advise on-field referees on more subjective calls.
For instance, if a player in an offside position doesn’t touch the ball but could be deemed to be interfering with play.
VARs may still draw lines in “edge cases” when the cameras are obscured by players.
How will fans be informed of decisions?
Once the VAR has reviewed and approved an offside, a 3D graphic of the decision will be generated on big screens inside stadiums and on TV.
The players will be distinguishable by the colours of their kits, while the part of the body adjudged to be offside will be highlighted.
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