The English Premier League has postponed the implementation of the semi-automated Video Assistant Referee (VAR) offside technology (SAOT) until 2025 due to ongoing testing of the system.
This decision comes months after English Premier League clubs had previously voted unanimously in favour of introducing the technology before the commencement of the 2024-2025 season.
SAOT is expected to significantly reduce the time required for offside checks by an average of 31 seconds.
Originally, the Premier League had planned to transition to SAOT “after one of the Autumn international breaks,” with October being considered the most likely timeframe for its introduction.
However, following a Premier League shareholders’ meeting on Thursday, September 26, it was revealed that SAOT is not yet prepared for rollout.
The delay in implementing SAOT calls into question the feasibility of introducing the technology at all in the ongoing season, which is scheduled to last until June 2025.
SAOT aims to eliminate the manual process of placing lines on players and the pitch to check for offside in a build-up to a goal, resulting in quicker and more accurate offside decisions.
Additionally, it promises to offer a much-improved graphical visualization of offside decisions compared to the current method of displaying lines on broadcast cameras.