VAR change to be introduced in time for Newcastle United v Manchester United – Official PL announcement | OneFootball

A major VAR change is to be introduced to the Premier League in time for Newcastle United v Manchester United.

The weekend of Saturday 12 April/Sunday 13 April will see semi-automated offsides in operation, finally.

For years this has been in operation elsewhere, including the 2022 World Cup finals and the 2024 Euros.

Yet embarrassingly the Premier League have failed to get such a system up and running until now.

The last 16 FA Cup matches this season, including Newcastle v Brighton, saw the VAR improvement finally in use, now in a week and a half’s time it is the turn at last of the Premier League.

Amusing to see that the image used to illustrate the official Premier League announcement (see below) is one of a Newcastle United player getting caught offside, start as you mean to go on!

Premier League official announcement – 1 April 2025:

‘The Premier League will introduce semi-automated offside technology on Saturday 12 April (Match Round 32). This follows non-live testing in the Premier League and live operation in the FA Cup this season.

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.