Why the Premier League doesn't use semi-automated offsides
The former Premier League referees' chief Keith Hackett had little time for any criticism of match officials. "It's a little bit like me advising Lionel Messi on how he can improve his performance and where he went wrong," Hackett argued, pointing to the tiny fraction of decisions that referees actually get wrong. Yet, Messi has rarely made a blunder as egregious as incorrectly ruling a player offside despite the benefit of numerous video replays. Luis Diaz's disallowed goal for Liverpool against Tottenham Hotspur at the end of September was the most glaring - but hardly isolated - example of video assistant referees (VARs) failing to accurately make an offside decision. PGMOL blamed "significant human error". A semi-automated offside system is utilised across European football but was shunned by the Premier League ahead of the 2023/24 season. Here's everything you need to know about the technology that could have saved the Premier League's match...