Chelsea’s Club World Cup trial of ‘robot-referee’ could help restore football balance

They've arrived. Robots are now being introduced in football, and Chelsea will be the first Premier League club to trial the latest technology in football at the Club World Cup.

Technically speaking, there won't be any robots roaming around on the pitch, so don't worry about Mike Dean becoming redundant to the person having to oil the machine or a slide tackled that sees a metallic arm and leg flying.

Although the whole point of the new tech is to track limbs, bare with, promise this isn't a script for the latest Hannibal Lecter reboot. The technology is a 'limb tracking' system that will make automatic offside decisions.

The technology is quick as half a second and will operate via special camera’s fixed to the roof of stadiums to create a visual animation that will determine the decision. This means that it will become quicker for referees to make correct decisions.

Virtual Assistant Refereeing, or as the well-known dread acronym it’s now known as VAR, has come under serious criticism since it was introduced two years ago, mostly after onfield referees have made decisions that are incorrect despite the technology that is already instated and at their disposal.

One of the biggest criticism’s of the current VAR system is the amount of time it takes to make a decision. On-field referees have support from Stockley Park and can review a monitor to watch replays.

Yet the right decision is not always made. That’s the human factor of sport, and people make mistakes. But, this new technology will make accurate decisions and allow that message to get to officials quicker than before.

It’s a win, win if the trial proves to be a success and will allow football to restore the balance of minimal disruption, yet still have the right