FIFA World Cup 2022 Will Debut Semi-Automated Cameras To Catch Offsides

When the FIFA World Cup 2022 begins on November 21 in Qatar, fans can look forward to a new piece of technology being introduced to the sport. 

In addition to the video assistant referee (VAR) implemented in 2018, this year’s competition will see semi-automated offside technology used for the first time, to give match officials extra support to make faster and more accurate decisions. 

The technology makes use of 12 dedicated tracking cameras overlooking the stadium to track the ball while it’s in motion, scanning up to 29 data points on each individual player at a speed of 50 times per second to calculate their exact position and alert officials if they’re offside. 

Furthermore, the official match ball will have an inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor embedded within it, so it can send data directly to the video operation room to detect the ball’s extremely precise location at any given time. 

In combination with the ball data, the limb-tracking data will be manually reviewed by video match officials within just a few seconds, before being generated into a 3D animation video that will be shown to fans in the stadium and watching on television. 

“Semi-automated offside technology is an evolution of the VAR systems that have been implemented across the world. This technology is the culmination of three years of dedicated research and testing to provide the very best for the teams, players, and fans who will be heading to Qatar later this year,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. 

“We are aware that sometimes the process to check a possible offside takes too long, especially when the offside incident is very tight. This is where semi-automated offside technology comes in—to offer faster and more accurate decisions,” concurred Pierluigi Collina, Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee. 

[via Al-Jazeera and FIFA, cover image via FIFA]