How Fifa Is Using Saot for Offside Decisions

What’s in today’s article:

• Offside rule
• Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT)

Why In News:

• In the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2022 between host Qatar and Ecuador, the first goal of the tournament was ruled out for offside within a quick span of time.
• FIFA’s brand new Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT) was responsible for this quick decision.

Offside rule

• An attacking player is considered to be in an offside position if:
  • any part of their body – except hands and arms – is in the opposing team’s half; and
  • there’s no opposing player between attacking player and the goalkeeper before the ball is played forward.
• Being in an offside position is not an offence in itself.
• However, the moment the player in the offside position plays the ball or attempts to play the ball, then it will be seen as actively involved in play and that is when the offence occurs.
• When a player is flagged, the only sanction is that the ball is given to your opponents to restart play in the form of a free kick in their own half of the pitch.

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Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT)

• SAOT is a support tool for the video match officials and the on-field officials to help them make faster, more reproducible and more accurate offside decisions.
• FIFA had announced that semi-automated offside technology will be used at the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar starting on 21 November.

Technologies used in SAOT

• There are two parts to the technology:
  • a sensor inside the match ball (Adidas’s Al Rihla) that is held using suspension technology, and
  • existing tracking tools that are part of the VAR system.
    • Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology was first introduced in Russia in 2018.

Working

• The new technology uses 12 dedicated tracking cameras mounted underneath the roof of the stadium to track the ball and up to 29 data points of each individual player, 50 times per second, calculating their exact position on the pitch.
• The 29 collected data points include all limbs and extremities that are relevant for making offside calls.
• Al Rihla, adidas’ official match ball for Qatar 2022, will provide a further vital element for the detection of tight offside incidents as an inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor will be placed inside the ball.
  • This sensor, positioned in the centre of the ball, sends ball data to the video operation room 500 times per second, allowing a very precise detection of the kick point.
• By combining the limb- and ball-tracking data and applying artificial intelligence, the new technology provides an automated offside alert to the video match officials.
• Hence, the coming together of the ball sensor and the Hawk-Eye cameras is in effect SAOT, which FIFA says allows for decisions that are highly accurate and quick.

Other possible uses of SAOT

• Experts believe offside decision-making is just the starting point and the wealth of tracking data will soon be used by coaches for tactical analyses and gauging individual athlete performances.
• The metrics can also be useful for scouting good players.
• SAOT is expected to aid such statistical thinking and data mining in football.