Latest news with #SAOT
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Robots waving flags?
On a cold but crisp April afternoon, the Etihad Stadium buzzed with anticipation. Not just because Manchester City were hosting Crystal Palace, but the real star of Matchweek 32 wasn't a player, it was the all-new Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT), making its Premier League debut. Fans craned their necks, but not just for Erling Haaland's runs or the through balls of Kevin De Bruyne, but for the giant screens that would display SAOT's verdict, a moment years in the making. The journey to this day began a year ago, when Premier League clubs gave a green light to SAOT after some pretty heated debates. But the promises of quicker, more accurate offside calls, by shaving an average of 31 seconds off VAR's tedious reviews, won them over. Tested in the FA Cup and fine-tuned by Genius Sports, SAOT's 30 high-speed cameras and AI-driven tracking were ready. Yet, a chorus of doubt could still be heard on the terraces from fans, after-all, Video Assistant Referees are less popular than the human whistleblowers, if that is even possible. Advertisement In the 22nd minute, Palace's Eberechi Eze slipped a pass to Jean-Philippe Mateta, who slotted the ball past Ederson. The linesman's flag stayed down, but the stadium held its breath. At Stockley Park, VAR officials watched SAOT spring to life. Cameras captured 10,000 data points, mapping Mateta's shoulder against Kyle Walker's boot in picoseconds. A 3D replay flashed vividly on the screens: a red line marked Mateta offside by just a hair. The goal was disallowed. The crowd roared, those in 'Citeh' blue, in some relief, but so did Palace fans, but in frustration, the call though, was clear, swift, and undeniable. For soccer fans it was a revelation. No more squinting at blurry VAR TV screens, sipping on a halftime Bovril. The fans in the stadium can see the call, and it's concluded so quickly, unlike some very lengthy deliberations that previously tarnished the beautiful game. The technology may not be perfect; complex plays still needed human eyes, but it felt like progress and a step in the right direction. By full-time, City's 3-1 win was secondary to SAOT's flawless debut. Social media buzzed with clips of the offside call, fans marveling at the crisp graphics. Pundits, though, cautioned that SAOT wouldn't fix VAR's deeper woes, like subjective fouls. Still, as the sun set over Manchester, the Premier League felt a shift. A new era had begun, one where technology promised clarity, even if football's heart remained gloriously, messily human.
Telegraph
12-04-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Man City vs Crystal Palace: Foden misses out as McAtee makes full Premier League debut
12:15PM Semi-automated offsides in use for the first time The Premier League will introduce semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) on Saturday 12 April after non-live testing in the Premier League and live operation in multiple FA Cup matches this season. SAOT automates key elements of the offside decision-making process for the VAR… — Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) April 11, 2025 12:10PM Foden playing with the weight of the world on his shoulders City are without the injured Phil Foden this afternoon, though on current form that isn't the loss it would have been a year ago. It's been a difficult week for Foden, who had to endure abusive chants about his mother during last weekend's Manchester derby. James Ducker wrote about his struggles after the game at Old Trafford. So often he has taken to the pitch looking like a man carrying a weight, unduly burdened. Guardiola talked about seeing 'every training session and the passion, the smile on his face' but it has been harder to detect that player on a match day. He has looked lost, tormented even. His City team-mates are known to have worried privately about him. Foden himself has said he suffered from 'mental fatigue' at the start of the season and that his brain had become foggy during training sessions. 12:04PM Oliver Glasner talks to TNT Sports I think we had a slow start to the season. We had a lot of players away at the tournaments in the summer, then some late signings, so we didn't train together until the middle of September. It takes time for everyone to know how we want to play and what they have to do. Since November it has started to grow and the confidence has increased. We're facing a very good Man City side, who have had two clean sheets in a row. It's important that pwe perform at our level and then it's possible to take three points. When you play as a kid in the cage or in the park, you want to win the game. This is what we want today – we might not achieve it but that's our ambition. 11:40AM Verdict on City's '115' charges unlikely before summer A verdict in the Premier League's landmark court battle with Manchester City over '115' charges is unlikely before the summer, Telegraph Sport understands. City have been accused of breaching a series of financial rules over a nine-year period as well as allegations of failing to cooperate with Premier League investigations. A hearing by an independent commission concluded in December after almost three months of legal argument at London's International Dispute Resolution Centre. It was initially anticipated that a decision in the case could be delivered around this time, in the early spring. But no hard-and-fast deadline was ever set and the feeling is that an outcome is unlikely before the summer, raising the prospect of there still being quite a wait before a verdict arrives. The 2025-26 Premier League season is due to start on Aug 16. 11:39AM Palace owner being sued for £6 million by ex-Wolves manager Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor is being sued for more than £6 million at the High Court by Bruno Lage after the club appointed Oliver Glasner as manager. An extraordinary lawsuit, which Textor is contesting, accuses him of signing a contract stating he would use his power as the largest shareholder in Palace and French giants Lyon to offer the role of head coach at one of those teams to former Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Lage. The alleged contract covering the period between January 1 and April 15 last year was signed shortly after Lage, now in his second spell with Benfica, became manager of Textor's Brazilian side, Botafogo, on a six-month deal in July 2023. The Portuguese was sacked after less than three months in charge in what was his first job since being fired by Wolves in October 2022. Read more... 11:37AM Pep Guardiola speaks to TNT Sports [On the glorious Manchester sunshine] It's weird! It's very different [fighting for a Champions League place rather than the title]. It's the first time we've done it but we have to accept it; we deserve to be where we are. It's still in our hands. [On James McAtee] I've wanted to play him in the Premier League for a long time, but for different reasons it hasn't happened. Today I felt I had to do it. He's moves well in small spaces, he has a good goal sense and is always arriving in front of keeper. He knows the club, he loves the club. [On Kevin De Bruyne] He deserves all the [love] he will get for the rest of the season. His legacy will be eternal. "His legacy will be eternal." 💙 Pep Guardiola on the race for Champions League football and Kevin de Bruyne's announcement 🤝 🎙 @Becky_Ives_ | 📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK — Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 12, 2025 11:22AM Manchester City team news Pep Guardiola makes three changes from the goalless draw at Old Trafford. In come Rico Lewis, Nico Gonzalez and James McAtee, who is making his full Premier League debut for City; out go Matheus Nunes, Bernardo Silva and the injured Phil Foden. Lining up this afternoon! 💪🩵 XI | Ederson, Lewis, Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly, Nico, Kovacic, Gundogan, De Bruyne (C), McAtee, Marmoush SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Grealish, Doku, Bernardo, Reis, Savinho, Nunes, Khusanov, Bobb #ManCity | @etihad — Manchester City (@ManCity) April 12, 2025 11:22AM Crystal Palace team news One change for Palace: Chris Richards replaces the suspended Marc Guehi in defence. Taking on City in yellow 🤝 #CPFC // #MCICRY — Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) April 12, 2025 11:17AM Good morning Hello and welcome to live coverage of Manchester City v Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium. It's a reflection of both teams' season that this feels like a seriously awkward game for City. It's also one they really need to win. City start the day in sixth, outside the Champions League places; and though they have a relatively kind run-in, it's no longer unthinkable that they won't qualify for next season's competition. This could also be a dress rehearsal for the FA Cup final, with the two teams avoiding each other in the semi-final draw. Palace, 11th in the Premier League but top of the form table, are especially dangerous on the road. They haven't lost away since October and have a counter-attacking ruthlessness that will make City wary. 'Our approach is not to come home unbeaten, our approach is to win the game, so if at the end it's a draw, we will accept the draw, but we go there and want to win the game,' said their coach Oliver Glasner. We have a huge respect for Manchester City because they are a great team and have maybe the best manager in the last decade in the Premier League. But we go in with confidence.' So does Pep Guardiola, who has seen encouraging signs in recent weeks. 'I'm optimistic to finish well this season. Some spirit is back. Some games, some moments were good – United no – but the spirit is there. The spirit will sustain us. 'Now it's not very complicated. We don't have 15, 20 games. Now we have seven games left. It's a final every single game. We have to win a lot of games to qualify for the Champions League.' Kick off 12.30pm.
BBC News
11-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Explainer: Semi-automated offsides start in Premier League this weekend
After trials, delays, praise and some criticism, semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) will be introduced in the Premier League this several high-profile lengthy video assistant referee (VAR) decisions in recent weeks, it is hoped the technology will start to reduce the delays and some voted in the technology last April, but its rollout has been pushed back from the autumn for more is designed to make the judgement of tight offside calls easier for officials by making key parts of the review process Premier League says the artificial intelligence system "enhances the speed, efficiency and consistency of offside decision-making".It is not used for other VAR involvements such as penalties, goal reviews for handballs or other fouls, red cards or mistaken first Premier League game with the technology will be Manchester City's home match with Crystal Palace on Saturday (12:30 BST). So how does it work? We have already seen SAOT in this season's Champions League and in the FA Cup from the fifth round a tight offside decision goes to a VAR review, SAOT steps officials in the VAR room needed to decide on three key things - when the ball was kicked, where and at what angle the defender's body was when the ball was kicked and where and what angle the attacker's body was at the moment of at home have seen this manual process played out with lines drawn with crosshairs on freeze-frame replays shown on their TV three of those decisions will now be automatically taken by the technology to remove some elements of human subjectivity, such as which frame to freeze as the ball is cameras have been installed beneath the roof at all 20 Premier League stadiums to monitor a variety of key 30 cameras - working at 100 frames per second - will track the exact movement of the ball as well as 10,000 data points on the bodies of all 22 means it can be automatically determined whether an attacking player's body was beyond the last defender at the exact time the ball was officials check the system has correctly determined the three key points it measures before confirming the decision. The on-field officials then inform the players.A 3D animation of the decision produced by the artificial intelligence will then be played on television for viewers at home and on big screens in the yet, the officials will not speak to the crowd, as has been seen in the Carabao Cup. Will it end the lengthy delays? In short, a it's important to remember we are only talking about offside decisions here - which are largely factual - and not subjective refereeing calls on goals, penalties and red cards, which will still go to will increase the speed of the virtual offside line placements and it will help in crowded penalty delay in disallowing Moises Caicedo's goal in Chelsea's 1-0 win over Tottenham was about four minutes, and there is confidence SAOT would have cut that wait by about two it would not have reduced the time - more than three minutes - that it took to disallow Pape Sarr's goal in the same game which led to Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou claiming that VAR was "killing the game". That goal was ruled out for a foul that was spotted in midfield, rather than for an Premier League says there has already been 100% accuracy with offsides this season, with the average VAR delay at 39 seconds per game, compared with 64 seconds last SAOT will reduce, but not eliminate, VAR delays for complex situations. What was learned from eight-minute delay at Bournemouth? In Bournemouth's FA Cup fifth-round win over Wolves - one of the 'trial' games - SAOT made the headlines after a record eight-minute VAR officials were unable to rely on the new technology during the check, and they needed to revert to manually drawn lines before disallowing Bournemouth defender Milos Kerkez's 35th-minute Football Association said the issue was caused by a congested penalty was reviewed and it was recognised the speed of the process and switching between technologies - AI and data platform Genius Sports supply the SAOT - could have been was felt some time could have been saved before recognising the new technology was not going to be able to help in that are no plans for a time cut-off for VAR checks, despite recent argument from referees' body PGMOL is that it can sometimes take time for officials to check through multiple issues with multiple processes - the last of which may be decisive but fall out of any time limit, should one be imposed.
The Independent
01-04-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Premier League to introduce semi-automated offside technology this season
Semi-automated offside technology will be introduced in Premier League matches from April 12, the league has announced. The technology, which was originally intended to be introduced after one of the autumn international breaks in October or November, eventually made its debut in English football in seven of the eight fifth-round FA Cup ties at the start of March. Following additional non-live testing in the Premier League, SAOT will now be used for the first time in the top flight, using virtual offside lines and graphics along with optical player tracking for those watching at home or in a stadium. A Premier League statement said: 'Semi-automated offside technology automates key elements of the offside decision-making process to support the video assistant referee (VAR). 'It provides more efficient placement of the virtual offside line, using optical player tracking, and generates virtual graphics to ensure an enhanced in-stadium and broadcast experience for fans. 'The technology maintains the integrity of the process while enhancing the speed, efficiency, and consistency of offside decision-making.' Using 30 cameras around a stadium, the technology is set to be used in close offside decisions and, like VAR, will help confirm or suggest a change to the on-field decision made by the referee. The Premier League has worked with Professional Game Match Officials Ltd and Genius Sports to develop the technology. Speaking in February, Premier League chief football officer Tony Scholes said the system was 'the most accurate and the most future-proof' available. It will debut at the Etihad Stadium on April 12, when Manchester City host Crystal Palace in the early kick-off, with three more fixtures set to follow at 3pm. The day's action concludes with Arsenal's clash against Brentford at the Emirates in the teatime fixture.
The Independent
01-04-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Premier League to introduce semi-automated offside technology from April 12
Semi-automated offside technology will be introduced in Premier League matches from April 12, the league has announced. The technology, which was originally intended to be introduced after one of the autumn international breaks in October or November, eventually made its debut in English football in seven of the eight fifth-round FA Cup ties at the start of March. Following additional non-live testing in the Premier League, SAOT will now be used for the first time in the top flight, using virtual offside lines and graphics along with optical player tracking for those watching at home or in a stadium. A Premier League statement said: 'Semi-automated offside technology automates key elements of the offside decision-making process to support the video assistant referee (VAR). 'It provides more efficient placement of the virtual offside line, using optical player tracking, and generates virtual graphics to ensure an enhanced in-stadium and broadcast experience for fans. 'The technology maintains the integrity of the process while enhancing the speed, efficiency, and consistency of offside decision-making.' Using 30 cameras around a stadium, the technology is set to be used in close offside decisions and, like VAR, will help confirm or suggest a change to the on-field decision made by the referee. The Premier League has worked with Professional Game Match Officials Ltd and Genius Sports to develop the technology. Speaking in February, Premier League chief football officer Tony Scholes said the system was 'the most accurate and the most future-proof' available. It will debut at the Etihad Stadium on April 12, when Manchester City host Crystal Palace in the early kick-off, with three more fixtures set to follow at 3pm. The day's action concludes with Arsenal's clash against Brentford at the Emirates in the teatime fixture.
