Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has intimated that offside calls might be automated in the 2022 World Cup.
The FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development as quoted by RMC Sport said the measure would be “the next great evolution of refereeing”, as he spoke ahead of French Football Federation’s refereeing convention at the end of the month.
“There is a good chance that the offside will be automated in 2022. I am kept in secrecy, but it will be the next of the big evolutions of the arbitration,” Wenger said.
This development has been mooted by football’s governing body previously, having announced in 2020 that it had been looking to develop “semi-automatic technology” for offside calls, in order to supplement VAR and aid referees in taking decisions.
The move comes at a time when many football stakeholders are still debating on Wenger’s plan to have the World Cup played after every two years with many against the thoughts as they believe it will be hectic for the players.
