The introduction of Artificial Intelligence-driven semi-automated VAR offside technology remains on course to be used at the World Cup in Qatar.

That is the message from the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the organisation that determines the laws of football.

Offside decisions using VAR have been taking up to four minutes, with the technology aiming to cut the decision down to three or four seconds by providing faster information.

Chelsea were the first English Premier League side to experience the technology during the FIFA Club World Cup in February. This was just two months after the initial semi-automated system made its debut.

The IFAB continues in its discussions with FIFA regarding the implementation of the upgraded VAR system to utilise the offside technology at the upcoming Qatar 2022 World Cup in November.

“It looks very good and very promising,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino told a news conference on Monday. “Our experts are looking into [the trials] before we take a decision on whether it will be used for the World Cup or not.”

FIFA’s head of refereeing Pierluigi Collina, added he was confident the semi-automated offside VAR could be used.

“We want to achieve accuracy, quicker decisions, also more accepted decisions. We have seen in matches where the semi-automated offside was implemented (and) these objectives were achieved,” stated the referees chief. “It uses the same process as goal-line technology, and we have seen (that) that is very well accepted by the football community. Nobody comments on this.”

The Premier League in England is expected to introduce the technology, if successful at the World Cup, in the 2023/2024 season.

Trials are also in the works to give attacking players the advantage in offside situations, with Collina revealing the rules are under consideration.

“We are considering that a very marginal offside is not that relevant to be punished in modern football,” Collina explained. “So, we are running this experiment. Unfortunately, the competitions where these trials were allowed were suspended or abandoned for almost two years due to the pandemic.”

FIFA has tests going on in youth football in the Netherlands, in Italy and in Sweden.

The IFAB also is investigating how to reduce time-wasting, with the ball usually in action for just 54 minutes of a 90-minute match.

(dpa/NAN)