Celtic and Rangers on Champions League alert as UEFA announce offside revamp in latest VAR addition

Rangers and Celtic are set to be impacted by UEFA's overhaul of VAR and new refereeing guidelines that have been put in place for the Champions League group stage - including semi-automated offside technology.

The Scottish Premiership sides have both reached the tournament proper for the first time since 2007/08 season, with Ange Postecoglou's Scottish champions going straight into the group stage. Gio van Bronckhorst's men joined their city rivals to rub shoulder's with Europe's elite for the first time in a decade after navigating the qualifying rounds.

Ahead of Rangers' opener with Ajax and Celtic's first game with Real Madrid, UEFA chief refereeing officer Roberto Rosetti has unveiled a new set of guidelines that will be put in place this season - with semi-automated offside technology the most eye-catching as the governing body continue to build on VAR. The system was used for the first time in the Super Cup match between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt, but has been green lit to carry on throughout the top European competition.

UEFA state the specialised cameras are able to track 29 different body points per player, with Rosetti claiming the move will "enhance the flow of the game and the consistency of the decisions." He added: “UEFA is always looking for new technological solutions to improve the game and support the work of the referees.

"We strongly believe in this project. Semi-automated offside technology will further improve VAR, which we have successfully implemented over the last years in our competitions."

UEFA’s referees have also been urged to crack down firmly on instances of mobbing of referees, mass confrontation between players and dissent by players and coaches.

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