Semi-automatic offside to start in Brasileirão from Saturday | OneFootball

The federation announced that semi-automatic offside, known as SAOT, will be introduced in the Brasileirão from the 20th round on Saturday.

The rollout coincides with the start of the second half of the campaign, with clubs briefed on Tuesday morning at CBF headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. Implementation has taken eight months after plans were kept unconfirmed to avoid setbacks.

The system has been trialled in recent weeks, including training in youth matches and in Série A. It will be available across every Série A club stadium, and Palmeiras have also contracted the service for Arena Barueri when Nubank Parque hosts concerts.

Around 30 mobile phone devices, requiring power and internet, record matches in 4k at 100 frames per second to build a digital replica. Genius supplies the technology and also operates in the Premier League, the Mexican league and in Belgium, with installations in 65 stadiums worldwide.

The use of SAOT reduces the time to confirm offsides by 33%, based on data from the three leagues already using the system. If the technology fails during a game, coaches, captains and spectators will be informed and officials will revert to the manual VAR offside line used up to round 19.

An initial plan to start the season with SAOT was postponed because every host stadium had to be assessed before activation.

Source: Globo.com