“It will just kill football”: FIFA may introduce an offside system

Determining an offside position is traditionally one of the most controversial issues in football. And when an ambiguous episode leads to a goal scored, they continue to discuss it for a long time after the final whistle, and the line judge is in the spotlight, having decided in favor of a particular team.

The last such resonant case in Russian football occurred in the match of the 7th round of the RPL Rostov - Rubin. At the 87th minute of the meeting, midfielder Alexander Saplinov, after the transfer of Evgeny Chernov, put his team ahead. According to the guests, the goal should not be counted, because at the time of the pass of the partner the player was in an offside position. Nevertheless, the chief judge of the meeting, Vitaly Meshkov, interpreted the episode in his own way, and the wards of Roman Sharonov were defeated.

Judge for yourself 🤷🏻‍♂️ # RostovRubinpic.twitter.com / RvJALXaF3o

However, in the near future such situations may become much smaller. New technologies are increasingly becoming part of modern football. So, the video assistance system for referees (VAR) has already passed the test of the largest international competitions and is gradually being introduced into national championships.

However, the leadership of the International Football Federation (FIFA) decided not to stop there. Insiders of the British newspaper Mirror report that at the moment a special commission is working on a new system, which in the future will automatically detect offsides. Thus, the line judges will be replaced by artificial intelligence.

“FIFA already has a department set up for research in this area. Will they completely replace referee assistants with cameras and computers that will make decisions regarding offsides and face-offs? One day this can happen, ”an informed source quoted the publication.

It is still unknown how exactly the new technology will work and when it can be first tested in action. It is assumed that its main difference from VAR will be that the offside position will be determined automatically and the referee will not have to review the controversial episode. This system works during the goal: the referee receives a special signal as soon as the ball crosses the goal line.

However, while in the case of VAR, the opinions of experts, coaches and the players themselves were divided, many were puzzled by the potential innovation with automated offside detection. So, the chairman of the refereeing committee of the Russian Football Union (RFU) Nikolai Levnikov noted that the electronic system will not be able to take into account all the subtleties of the game, as a person does.

“In fact, in matches where VAR is applied, this is what happens. However, the computer will be able to determine only the position of the player, touching the ball, and not whether he interferes in the game, whether he is trying to influence the opponent, what benefit he derives. After all, this is what is considered a violation of the rules, and not where the player was. While this is impossible. I advocate the use of the system in order to avoid key errors of the referee, and not to determine the millimeter offside. But she is advancing on her own and has already reached all the leading championships. Therefore, additional innovations are not needed here, ”the expert said in an interview with RT.

In addition, he criticized the FIFA desire to introduce a large number of technologies in football. In his opinion, this will negatively affect the perception of the game.

“They are needed for games of robots, not people. It seems to me that the larger the computer in football, the less interesting it will be for ordinary fans. This will not be the game we love. Yes, there will be less pressure on the referees in terms of offside episodes, but at the same time, this can kill the tactics of the game developed by the coaches in preparation for the matches. However, let’s see, because 10 years ago no one could even think about the existence of VAR. And today it has become a reality, ”added Levnikov.

A similar position was expressed by the Honorary President of the RFU, Vyacheslav Koloskov. According to him, football is too dynamic a sport to be regulated solely by an automatic system.

“This is absurd. Because offside is not just a mechanical action. Remember the match between CSKA and Akhmat. The red-blue football player gave a pass to one partner, and in the offside position was another. The computer will not determine this, it will clearly mark the offside, ”the expert believes.

“If we want to ruin the football, then instead of a judge, you can put a robot. From my point of view, it will just kill football, because the side judges will not be needed, ”Koloskov emphasized.

At the same time, he noted that it is not necessary to draw parallels and compare the automatic determination of the offside with VAR.

“In the second case, we are talking about living people, about specialists who analyze the game, and not about computers. It is obvious that VAR is useful, it is no coincidence that a similar system is used in many sports. In my opinion, this is a far-fetched thing, a tribute to fashion. But do not forget that football is creativity that can suffer in this way, ”Koloskov is sure.