UEFA Super Cup 2022: Semi-Automated Offside Technology is set to debut

UEFA has confirmed the debut of Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT) in the UEFA Super Cup 2022, where the Spanish club Real Madrid and German club Eintracht Frankfurt will face each other at Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland on August 10.

Real Madrid are the UEFA Champions League 2021/22 winners, while Eintracht Frankfurt won the UEFA Europa League 2021/22 trophy.

UEFA Super Cup 2022: SAOT debut

During this forthcoming UEFA Super Cup match, Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT) will be used. While this technology has already been used in the FIFA Arab Cup 2021 and FIFA Club World Cup 2021, it is also ready to experience the FIFA World Cup 2022 later this year.

Process and advantage

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays crucial roles in this SAOT, video official referees and on-field match officials take the ultimate offside decisions after analyzing the data.

The official UEFA website has suggested that the specialized cameras will track 29 different body points per player in SAOT.

In the early days of testing, the SAOT has taken faster correct offside decisions than the VAR. While the VAR takes an average of 70 seconds to provide an offside decision, SAOT only takes more than 25 seconds to make an offside decision in the case of multiple offside elements and complicated subjective aspects.

So, apart from the better decisions, its quick nature will create a better experience for football fans by maintaining the flow of the game in a better way.

UEFA has also confirmed SAOT’s presence during the group stage in the upcoming UEFA Champions League season (2022/23).

UEFA Chief Refereeing Officer Roberto Rosetti stated on the official website, “UEFA is constantly looking for new technological solutions to improve the game and support the work of the referees. This innovative system will allow VAR teams to determine offside situations quickly and more accurately, enhancing the flow of the game and the consistency of the decisions.”

UEFA Super Cup 2022: Referee Michael Oliver and other officials

Also, the UEFA has announced the name of the match officials for the UEFA Super Cup 2022. English referee Michael Oliver, who received his FIFA badge in 2012, will take the referee role during the match between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt.

English referees Stuart Burt and Simon Bennett will be the assistant referees during this upcoming match. Lithuanian Donatas Rumsas will take the role of the fourth official of this game.

While the Polish Tomasz Kwiatkowski will take up the VAR role, Polish Bartosz Frankowski and Portuguese Tiago Bruno Lopes Martins will work as the VAR assistants.