FIFA President Gianni Infantino and referee chief Gianluigi Collina have spoken positively about the possible use of semi-automated offside technology at the World Cup in Qatar.
“It’s looking very good and promising. Our experts are looking at it before we make a decision on whether or not to use it at the World Cup,” Infantino said after the International Football Association Board’s (IFAB) General Assembly of Rules Enforcers in Doha .
His “personal opinion” is that it could be taken forward, said Collina, the chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee. From his point of view, “quicker decisions” and “decisions with more acceptance” would speak in favor of introducing the technology. According to information from the German Press Agency, FIFA intends to decide in the coming weeks whether to play at the World Cup in Qatar. “We’re working on it, we’re in no rush. We want to be sure it works perfectly,” said Collina.
The semi-automatic offside technology was last tested at the Arab Cup and the Club World Cup in February. Several special cameras are set up to capture data points from each player that determine their position on the pitch. The number of data points is to be increased from 18 at the Club World Cup to 29 at the World Cup. The data is checked by a video assistant in charge of offside decisions – who gives a real-time recommendation to the referee on the field. “We’re not talking about robo-offside,” Collina pointed out. (dpa)