FIFA's new technology rules out goal as it prepares World Cup launch

The future of VAR offside is here. The days of tortuous delays while officials at Stockley Park lean forward, squint at their screen and draw lines on a freeze-frame will soon be over.

Chelsea will this week become the first English club to try out FIFA’s new limb-tracking technology, which will make decisions quicker and clearer, ending much of the controversy over toenail offsides.

The semi-automated system is in place at the Club World Cup with Chelsea due to play their semi-final on Wednesday with FIFA set to launch the technology at the World Cup in Qatar later this year and domestic competitions like the Premier League next season.

Twelve cameras installed under the stadium roof track the ball and 29 points on each player at a speed of 50 times a second. The technology plots a player’s skeleton to judge which part of the body is furthest forward.

It then creates a 3D graphical representation of the incident in almost real-time which is then sent to the VAR and the decision shown on the big screen to fans.

Fans saw a glimpse of how well the new technology can work last week at the Club World Cup when Al-Jazira striker Zayed al-Ameri scored what he thought was his second goal in their victory over Tahiti side Pirae on Thursday only for VAR to rule it out for a marginal offside. The whole process took no more than 20 seconds.

It will revolutionise how quickly VAR officials can judge offsides and also how clearly they will be explained to fans with the graphical replay able to move the camera in line with the incident.

Linesmen will also no longer need to delay raising their flags for many marginal offsides.

FIFA have tested the new system across several tournaments, including the Arab Cup in December, and currently