Semi-automated offside technology, an aid for the referees to make quicker decisions on offsides will be used at the FIFA World Cup 2022 later this year in Qatar, FIFA have confirmed.

This latest breakthrough in football technology will be used at a World Cup for the first time. Previously, FIFA introduced goal-line technology for the first time at a World Cup in 2014 in Brazil and Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in 2018 in Russia.

Special cameras will follow the players and analyze information from the field to automatically identify potential offsides, assisting the officials in making critical decisions more quickly and accurately. This technology was used at the most recent FIFA Club World Cup and FIFA Arab Cup.

In a stadium, 12 tracking cameras will track each player's 29 data points 50 times per second. Data will be sent 500 times per second from a sensor kept in the ball's center. The technology will notify officials of potential offsides, who will then review the play and an animation in 3D will be displayed on stadium screens after the decision has been made.

According to FIFA, this would be quicker than VAR and make the job of officials easier.