Technology has been steadily introduced into football over the last few years. Goal-line technology is regularly used around the world (but not in La Liga), as is VAR. The latest advancement is semi-automatic offsides, with have been used in the Champions League and World Cup over the last 12 months.
The Spanish Football Federation has now announced its intention to have the system used in its leagues from the start of next season. MD say that it would be used in La Liga, Segunda, the Spanish Super Cup and certain rounds of the Copa del Rey.
In a statement, the Federation confirmed its intention to have a semi-automatic offside system in use in Spanish football, and a supplier will now be looked for over the next few weeks.
“It is the RFEF’s intention to continue to maintain the video refereeing assistance service, incorporating semi-automatic offside detection (SAOT) technology into this system. This technology is already present in some of the best football competitions in Europe and the world, as it has shown a very significant improvement in the assessment of offside plays and in the reduction of the time for decision-making on this issue, providing credibility and reliability to them. To this end, the RFEF is calling for tenders to contract the provision of video assistance services for various official RFEF competitions and other ancillary services.”
Having this system in La Liga should be a positive, although it is still utterly bizarre that the league still has not decided to push for goal-line technology, which is another piece of technology that is essential in modern-day football, but has been too expensive by La Liga.
