Even for FIFA VAR is too slow and they will experiment a new technology for speeding up offside decisions

No more players standing still on the penalty spot waiting for VAR confirmation, as happened last Sunday to Tammy Abraham: FIFA wants to speed up checks on offside positions by experimentally introducing a new technology that tracks players' limbs in real time. It has been called "Semi-automated offside" and consists of 10 or 12 cameras specially placed on the roof of the stadium and able to collect up to 29 movement information fifty times per second for each player. 

The technology will be tested during the 2021 Arab Cup, which begins today November 30 in Qatar, and is expected to become operational soon. Pierluigi Collina, now FIFA Chief Refereeing Officer, has already defined it as "the most important experiment so far" and it should speed up some of the decisions that are affecting the flow of matches. 

How it works is explained in detail by Football Technology & Innovation Director Johannes Holzmüller in this episode of the Living Football Magazine Show.

Today VAR analyzes the video material and draws a line at the most useful moment to understand if the player is offside or not, but not always the quality of the image allows to find the best frame to perform this operation. It also takes a lot of time, infuriating the waiting fans and boring those who just want to enjoy a soccer match. 

With the "Semi-automated offside" instead the tracking data will be sent to the VAR room and both the offside line and the point of release of the ball from the player's foot will be immediately available for replay ensuring a quick and accurate decision. A revolution that would make everyone happy and help overcome the many doubts that the use of VAR still leaves.