Love it or loathe it, VAR looks set to play a key role within football for the foreseeable future.
The technology system has been heavily criticised since its introduction ahead of the 2019/20 Premier League season, with a number of baffling decisions being made in respect of red cards, offsides, handballs and more. Although it could be argued slight improvements have been made year-on-year as regards how the system is used, there can be no disputing there is plenty of work to still be done.
Liverpool's defeat by Arsenal on Sunday afternoon drew further attention to this point after it emerged a possible offside against Bukayo Saka in the Gunners' opening goal could not be sufficiently checked due to a technical error. News of this development has, naturally, left many supporters questioning how such scenarios could possibly play out in the most high-profile league in the world, though change could soon be on the way to put to an end to constant confusions.
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As revealed by the Times last month, the Premier League are planning to introduce Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT) from next season after witnessing the success of this approach during this season's Champions League. This system is responsible for making instantaneous decisions using 'tracking technology' regarding offsides, as opposed to the current format which sees lines drawn to ascertain whether a player is positioned behind the defensive line.
The report adds the 20 top flight clubs are expected to vote on whether to roll out the semi-automated system following the conclusion of the World Cup, a tournament that will also adopt this new approach during matches staged in Qatar.
Additional cameras will need to be installed at Premier League grounds should this be approved for use in the English top flight as offside calls, like the one involving Saka, are currently based on footage from broadcast TV cameras. A move to this more advanced setup would see separate cameras placed under the roof of the stadium, monitoring the precise positions of the ball and players by utilising artificial intelligence. Immediate alerts would be sent to the VAR to announce when a player has ventured offside.
At the upcoming World Cup, the official match ball being used will be fitted with a sensor that sends data 500 times a second via antennas inside the stadium. The purpose of this is to provide a clearer indication of when a player made contact with the ball, offering an improvement on the current method of analysing camera footage to judge exactly when the moment an individual was played through on goal.
It is hoped that a switch to SAOT will remove the subjective nature surrounding certain incidents as well as improving the speed at which verdicts are reached. There would be no benefit of doubt for the attacker if implemented as the system aims to deliver accuracy of the highest level, removing any doubts that are often attached to decisions made under the present regime. 3D animations would be broadcast to fans inside stadiums on giant screens, pinpointing the exact position of the player deemed offside at the moment the ball was played.
Explaining why this could represent a positive change for football, former FIFA-listed and Serie A referee Pierluigi Collina told ESPN : "In terms of accuracy, it is important because when you are more accurate it's good. In terms of time, I think it's more psychological. We felt something was needed, and that's why we wanted to offer something giving a quicker answer. We are aware that football is different [from other sports] and making a decision faster was important, and that's why we worked in this direction.
"The objective is to have a very accurate technology, something similar to goal-line technology which offers a very high accuracy. The goal-line technology is praised by everybody for its accuracy. So if the ball did, or didn't cross the goal line by very few millimetres, and the technology proves it, everyone is happy and everyone praises the technology for the very good answer provided," added Collina, who is now the chairman of the FIFA referees' committee.
"It should be the same for the Semi-Automated Offside Technology, which provides the evidence that a player was offside or onside in a very accurate manner. This technology should be praised as well."
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