Qatar 2022 World Cup to have ROBOT referees for offsides? FIFA in talks to make changes

Ever since the Qatar 2022 World Cup was officially confirmed, Qatar World Cup news has made the headlines for a number of reasons. The Qatar 2022 World Cup will be the first to be held in an Arab country. The Qatar 2022 World Cup will also be the last to host 32 teams in the tournament. Post the 2022 FIFA World Cup, FIFA plans to switch to a 48-team tournament from 2026. The 2022 FIFA World Cup has also been in the news for several of the technological innovations that are expected to be part of the tournament. Latest reports covering Qatar Word Cup news have suggested another radical change when it comes to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

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FIFA wants robot referees to make offside decisions during 2022 FIFA World Cup

Several reports have now revealed how robot referees in the Qatar 2022 World Cup may turn into a reality. Under the new plan, FIFA wants robo-refs to take offside calls during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The plan has been developed by FIFA director of technology Johannes Holzmuller and involves generating offside lines automatically using technology.

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The technology has already been tried once before, with it being enforced during the Club World Cup won by Liverpool in December. The Daily Mail claim that FIFA wants to roll the new technology out quickly, and is targeting the 2022 FIFA World Cup for the same. Speaking about the plan to have robots as referees, Johannes Holzmuller explained the main idea behind the plan is to speed up the review of situations when the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) is used.

FIFA’s director of technology then went on to explain the decision will ensure that the video assistant is no longer responsible for creating lines when it comes to assessing offside calls during the game. Holzmuller said that this task will be replaced by a system that creates the lines automatically and sounds an alarm if there is an offside call. The FIFA director concluded that this could end up saving time during VAR decisions and make the process quicker.

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FIFA bosses want to replace linesmen and assistant referees with robots

If executed, robot referees at the Qatar World Cup will be the first instance of such technology being used in the tournament. However, this is not the first time FIFA has talked about using robot referees in football. Last year, a Mirror report revealed how FIFA has created a specific department to study the impact technology can have on football. The report talked about how referees may be completely replaced with cameras and computers ruling offsides and throw-ins.

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The 2022 FIFA World Cup is expected to play host to several such technological innovations. In 2018, a cooling technology for 2022 FIFA World Cup stadiums was also passed. The system involves cold air being pumped into stadiums in the form of a mist.

Image Courtesy: instgram/roadto2022