Football
After the World Cup cycle has been shortened to two years, FIFA Director Arsene Wenger is planning the next football revolution. This time offside.
The 71-year-old only caused a stir in September, revealing the plans of the World Football Association to hold a World Cup every two years in the future. This would therefore be supported by fans, but also by the majority of associations.
Now the former Arsenal coach once again made people sit up and take notice, spoke at a press round in Paris about the plans for an offside revolution that could already celebrate its premiere at the 2022 World Cup.
Accordingly, offside decisions should only be made automatically in the future. In other words: the calibrated line decides whether a striker is offside or not. Long video reviews would be a thing of the past – at least when it comes to offside.
Wenger did not, however, owe any details. “I am bound to secrecy,” said the Frenchman, but at the same time added: “It will be the next big step forward in refereeing. We have to make progress in the speed of decision-making, especially when it comes to offside.”
It would therefore be conceivable that the referee would automatically receive a message on a smartwatch if there was an offside position. Goal-line technology works in a similar way.
A look beyond the boundaries of football also shows that comparable techniques have proven themselves. For example, the Hawkeye has already replaced the linesman in some tennis tournaments. Out calls come automatically.
