Premier League delays launch of new offside technology

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Louise Thomas

Editor

Semi-automated offside technology may not be launched in the Premier League until next year.

The introduction of the technology was approved by clubs in April and had been set to be brought in after one of this autumn’s international windows.

October had originally been seen as the most likely date but that is now certain to pass, and it may not be ready by mid-November either and could go into the winter.

League bosses sought to ‘manage expectations’ on the launch date among clubs at a meeting held in central London on Thursday, with testing on the system ongoing.

The league believes the technology could speed up the length of the average VAR check for offside by 31 seconds.

Clubs were also given a largely positive update on officiating and reminded about their obligations around player behaviour.

It is understood there was no pushback from clubs regarding the league spending more than £45million on legal costs.

There was recognition that the spending is necessary to uphold the league’s rules, and is a small fraction of the £10billion the league is set to earn in television revenues over the next three years.