It is understood that the technology has been refined and its effectiveness improved considerably in the last month however, with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) chief Howard Webb and the Premier League’s chief football officer, Tony Scholes, both giving their approval.
Semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) is set to be trialled in the FA Cup fifth round next month with a view to it being introduced in the Premier League before the end of the season.
The Premier League planned to introduce SAOT, which was first used at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, last autumn but officials were unhappy with its accuracy during testing in stadiums.
The Premier League hopes that SAOT technology can reduce the time to confirm offside decisions in the event of a VAR intervention by more than 30 seconds.
The FA Cup fifth-round draw has thrown up the opportunity for an extended trial as seven of the eight ties will take place at Premier League grounds, with the other at Championship club Preston.
