FIFA is set to roll out an enhanced semi-automated offside system for video assistant referees at this year’s World Cup, a development aimed at speeding up decision-making and allowing assistant referees to flag offside incidents earlier rather than waiting for play to fully unfold, according to BBC Sport reports.
Under the upgraded system, a real-time audio alert will be triggered for match officials when a player is more than 10cm offside.
This marks a major step forward from earlier versions tested at competitions such as the FIFA Club World Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, where alerts were only issued if a player was at least 50cm offside.
Despite the automation, the assistant referee will still retain full authority over when to raise the flag and halt play.
Officials may also choose to delay the flag if they suspect a technical issue, although FIFA says multiple fail-safes have been built into the system to minimize errors.
The technology remains limited to clear positional offside decisions and will not be used for subjective judgments, such as determining whether a player interfered with an opponent without touching the ball.
FIFA believes the system will reduce frustration for fans and players while also lowering injury risks caused by unnecessary phases of play before an offside is eventually called.
In a related safety context, Taiwo Awoniyi of Nottingham Forest was placed in an induced coma in May 2025 after colliding with a goalpost during a delayed offside decision sequence.
FIFA also confirmed that AI-powered, lifelike 3D avatars of all players will be introduced to improve the accuracy and clarity of offside rulings.
To achieve this, digital scans will be created for all 1,248 players across the 26-man squads of the 48 participating teams.
Each player will undergo a brief one-second scan during pre-tournament media duties, with the data used to generate enhanced offside visualisations during matches.
