Soccer's biggest league is rolling out AI-powered tech to make crucial calls

• England's top soccer league will start using AI-powered technology for offside calls.
• A slightly different version was used in 2022's FIFA World Cup.

The English Premier League, the nation's top soccer competition, is turning to new tech to help make crucial calls in-game: AI-powered offsides technology.

The Premier League announced on Thursday that "semi-automated offside technology" will be introduced next season. It was unanimously approved by all of its clubs, including top organizations like Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Manchester United.

"Offside" in soccer is when an offensive player cannot be closer to the opposing team's goal line than that team's defense when a ball is played. Currently, the Premier League uses on-field linesmen and video-assisted referees to make the calls.

"The technology will provide quicker and consistent placement of the virtual offside line, based on optical player tracking, and will produce high-quality broadcast graphics," the League said in a statement.

Semi-automated offside tech was previously used by FIFA in the 2022 World Cup — though the Premier League's system will differ in that there won't be censors inside balls, The Athletic notes.

FIFA's offside tech harnessed AI and was tested for three years before being implemented, soccer's global governing body said. It featured 12 cameras tracking players and the ball, sending automated alerts whenever a potential violation occurred.

At that point, 3D animations were rendered and played on stadium screens as well as for viewers watching at home.

This season, video-assisted referee calls have been a hot topic within the Premier League. The controversial calls have overturned goals, awarded penalties to teams after video review, and slowed down games.