Controversial Premier League decision will impact Newcastle United, Arsenal & Aston Villa

The Premier League has voted against the implementation of an automated offside system used in the Champions League and World Cup ahead of the 2023-24 season.

As revealed by The Times, the majority of English top-flight clubs voted in favour of changes to VAR next season but decided to stick by the current semi-automated offside system.

The automated technology, backed heavily by UEFA and FIFA, uses limb-tracking technology and artificial intelligence to determine whether a player is offside. It is said to be quicker and more accurate than the Premier League’s current system, which makes it a controversial decision.

However, while the automated system is able to determine if the player is in an offside position, the interpretive nature of the rules surrounding a player interfering with play still requires human input, something the semi-automated system does.

Instead, the Premier League is set to introduce four additional cameras at stadiums to give officials the best possible angle when reviewing an offside decision from the VAR room at Stockley Park.

While the automated system won’t be in place for the upcoming Premier League campaign, it could still be introduced in 2024-25.

One former manager in favour of its introduction is former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.

“Automated means it goes directly from the signal to the linesman and the linesman has on his watch a red light that tells him offside or not offside,” the Frenchman said previously.

“At the moment, we have situation where the players are on lines to see if they are offside or not. On average, the time we have to wait is around 70 seconds, sometimes one minute 20 seconds, sometimes a little bit longer when the situation is very difficult to appreciate.

“It is so important because we see many celebrations are cancelled after that for marginal situations and that’s why I believe it is a very important step.”