At Premier League Annual meeting today clubs unanimously agreed to amend Owners and Directors test to prohibit fully-leveraged buyouts.
However, the new semi-automated system looks to use artificial intelligence and ball tracking to try and create a quicker and more accurate depiction of the offside rule. It is currently being used in the Champions League, with a live graphic showing how close the offside is with a 3D model for better clarity over a static photo of a passage of play and some lines drawn between players.
The use of tracking cameras in the stadium makes the system able to follow where the ball and all the players are at any given moment. The reason it isn’t fully automated is because the rule states that a player has to be interfering with play, something that comes down to interpretation from match officials over a computer.
The Premier League is set to make further changes to their implementation of the offside rule and use of the Video Assistant Referee. That’s because, according to the Times, the league is set to adopt the new semi-automated offside system going into next season.
The report claims that nine teams have already got the infrastructure for the implementation of the rule, though the vote on whether this will go through is set to take place after the World Cup. While there is yet to be an outcome for the vote, there is an expectation that it will be passed, with the offside change seen as an improvement on the current rule.
Premier League club executives to meet face to face for first time at Annual General Meeting on Thursday; A wide-ranging agenda will include strengthening of European Super League sanctions, VAR, government’s fan-led reviews and COVID-19 updates ahead of next season.
The AGM, which takes place in Harrogate, will also be the first time club chiefs have met in person since six clubs failed in a controversial bid to join an unregulated European Super League in April.
Senior officials from all 20 clubs haven’t met each other in person since November 2019 but they have been holding regular virtual meetings due to coronavirus restrictions since March last year.
