The Supercoppa Italiana clash between Milan and Inter next Wednesday will mark the debut of the semi-automatic offside system in Italian football. In addition to that, it will be used in Serie A from the first round of the official second half of the season, which makes it the first league to do so.
With the new technology, which was already tested in the early stages of the Champions League and used in the World Cup, situations as the one involving Antonio Candreva against Juventus will be no more. Juventus’ late winner against Salernitana was disallowed because Leonardo Bonucci was deemed offside when he wasn’t. Candreva was behind the Italian centre-back, but the images shown to VAR did not reflect this.
The new system will provide three-dimensional animation which gets automatically generated during the game. The VAR and referee still have to make the definitive decision.
Referee director Gianluca Rocchi said the Supercoppa was ‘a great opportunity’ for the system’s debut, as quoted by Sky Sport Italia.
“We are ready. In the beginning, there might be some delay, but the most important thing is the accuracy of the decision.”
CEO of Serie A De Siervo shares Rocchi enthusiasm.
“We are proud to be the first league to use semi-automatic offside.”
Reducing the time to make an offside decision is the main goal of the system. It should allow the VAR and referee to make the call in about 20 seconds.
Jurre van Wanrooij | GIFN
