VILLA PARK will tonight see the launch of English football’s VAR upgrade. Premier League chiefs plan to roll out the use of Semi-Automated Offside Technology across the remainder of the season. But the new system, which uses up to 30 specialist high-speed cameras to track 10,000 data points on every player, will be debuted across all but one of this weekend’s eight FA Cup fifth-round ties.
![[Illustration of semi-automated offside technology on a soccer field.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/www-thefa-com-news-2025-975644436.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
And it starts with Aston Villa’s clash with Cardiff. Unlike the top-flight’s current VAR system, where operators manually determine the ‘kick point’ for offside calls and then draw lines, SAOT will do both automatically. It is expected the system, devised by the Prem’s new tech partner, US-based Genesis Sport, will reduce even tight decision times to an average of 30 seconds.
![[Collage of thirty soccer field views showing semi-automated offside technology.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/www-thefa-com-news-2025-975644356.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The Genesis system will then send a 3D visual replay to broadcasters and the giant screens in stadiums, to ensure fans know why the call was made. A white vertical wall will represent the offside line, with a blue ‘pulse’ on the defender’s relevant body part.
And when an attacker is offside, the offending part of their body will appear through the white wall and be outlined in red. The final image in the virtual replay will be on an angle, off-centre. CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS. That is to provide a clear view of the attacker and defender involved in the offside review.
