Premier League will make one major change to VAR next season | OneFootball

There are major changes coming to VAR in the Premier League for the 2023/24 season.

However, the league has taken the decision to vote against implementing FIFA's Semi-Automated Offside Technology as seen at the World Cup.

That technology saw limb-tracking cameras pinpoint the exact position of every player on the pitch, as well as a chip in the ball to determine exactly when the final pass was made.

Why Premier League voted against semi-automated offsides

Using the cameras, computer-generated 3D animation were then displayed showing exactly which body part of a player was offside.

It was considered a huge success during the World Cup.

UEFA have adopted the system - although they chose not to include the chip-in-ball technology.

It was expected the Premier League would implement the technology for the 2023/24 campaign but they've opted against it. La Liga, meanwhile, will be using it while UEFA's European competitions will continue doing so.

They believe that the evolution of technology will be so rapid that introducing the system now would be premature as it would soon be out of date.

The one VAR change in the Premier League next season

But there will be one big change next season that will help solve some of the current issues.

The Premier League will introduce four additional VAR cameras at stadiums.

It may seem like a small change, but a lack of cameras actually meant that two goals last season were unable to be checked accurately.

Last season, Premier League games had 20 VAR cameras in operation.

But that wasn't enough to see whether Bukayo Saka was offside in the build-up to Arsenal's opener against Liverpool in October. There was no evidence to prove Saka had come back from an offside position so the initial on-field decision stood.

Liverpool were also involved in another incident later in the season where a lack of cameras made VAR redundant.

It came in the FA Cup tie against Wolves at Anfield as the away side thought they had scored a late winner through Toto Gomes.

However, a late flag against a retreating Matheus Nunes who had taken the corner, ruled the goal out.

It turned out the Wolves midfielder was stood in a 'blind spot' for VAR cameras and it couldn't be proved that he was onside.

For an FA Cup tie, only 17 cameras were being used and the on-field decision, once again, had to stand.