The English Premier League will be upgrading its existing and widely panned refereeing technology with a new system that will rely on iPhones to ensure soccer players obey the infamous offside rule.
A soccer ball on a pitch
A soccer ball on a pitch
For years, the English Premier League has employed a video-assistant referee (VAR) to check whether players are offside when a goal is scored in high-level soccer matches. The rule, which refers to the position of players when a goal is scored, has been difficult enough to monitor by on-pitch officials, prompting the need for a fourth external official.
While VAR relies on an official watching positioned cameras and theoretically should solve the monitoring issue, it hasn’t been ideal. Its limitations, including delays and errors, has made it a hated part of modern soccer.