The International Federation Council "IFAB" will evaluate the effectiveness of "semi-automated" infiltration
The International Football Association Board (IFAB), which is responsible for enacting the laws of the popular game, will meet Monday in Doha, where the 2022 World Cup will be held at the end of the year, to evaluate the effectiveness of a "semi-automated" technology for intrusion detection.
In addition, the Board, at the 136th annual meeting of its General Assembly, must confirm the five substitutions per match, and look again at the always controversial issue of handball inside the area.
FIFA is still aiming to implement the semi-automated offside detection that was tested at the Club World Cup in February, but its use has not yet been confirmed.
But IFAP will not decide on Monday whether semi-automated stealth technology will be used in the World Cup finals in Qatar between November 21 and December 18.
On the one hand, it is the organizer, in this case FIFA, who makes the selection.
On the other hand, VAR technology has been used since the 2018 World Cup, and it is "only an additional tool for VAR" and not a new rule, FIFA told AFP.
"The semi-automated offside system still needs to be evaluated before a final decision can be made," the FIFA added.
In 2018, IFAP gave its initial approval for VAR, and a few weeks later, FIFA decided to use it at the World Cup in Russia.
This technology aims to increase reliability and speed up intrusion detection.
The technology has been called "semi-automatic" because the final decision on whether or not offside is ultimately left to the VAR, unlike goal-line technology, which strictly determines that the ball crosses the line.
The new technology relies on cameras in the roof of the field to follow the players and help the referees estimate two crucial points: the moment the ball is passed or touched, and the position of each part of the bodies of the players involved based on the fake offside line.
The data collected will be transmitted, in near real time, to the VAR cell, and the final decision will always rest with the referee himself, as emphasized by FIFA.
The visual tracking system was first tested at the Arab Cup last year in Qatar and then at the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi.
To provide advanced accuracy, the system currently generates 18 data points for each player, tracking every part of the player's body to create a 3D skeletal model.
The main goal, however, is to increase the data to 29 points in the World Cup finals in order to provide more accuracy, according to Germany's head of football technology at FIFA, Sebastian Ranch.
Once the final decision is made, the AI technology turns the images into 3D animations that can be displayed on the big screen inside the stadium.
Despite the increasing impact of technology on the world of soccer, FIFA has insisted that match officials will always make the final decision, with VAR technology responsible for monitoring offsides and checking cases as they occur rather than waiting for play to stop.
And the IFAB General Assembly can install the five substitutions of players in each match, which is adopted almost everywhere and is widely spread in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Board regulating the laws of the game left in October 2021 for each competition the option to adopt the five changes or not.
This amendment to Article 3 of the Football Law, which usually provides for a maximum of three substitutions, was set in May by IFAP and was to run until the end of 2021 for club competitions and July 31 for international matches.
The measure was extended until December 31, 2022, following a "global analysis of the current impact of COVID-19 on football".
Not all tournaments have adopted an increase in the number of substitutions, especially the English Premier League.
The IFAP Council can clarify the rule of hand touch inside the penalty area, which always results in unfair penalties, incomprehensible, disputed or controversial.
Finally, there is discussion of Rule 11 regarding offside, as well as substitutions after a concussion with two specific alternatives.
But the low number of accidents does not yet allow reliable conclusions to be drawn.
FIFA has four votes out of eight in the IFAB Council, while the other four votes belong to the associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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