Aston Villa, Wolves and Premier League rivals set to vote on fresh tweak to offside rule

Aston Villa and Wolves could be impacted by more tweaks to the offside rule.

It has been an interesting few years as far as officiating is concerned, with VAR changing the way rules are implemented in the game.

But as with any new system, tweaks are required as the search for perfection continues, and more changes are afoot.

Currently, the Premier League has a fully manual VAR system.

Assistants are only supposed to flag for obvious offsides immediately, while they are supposed to raise their flag after the play has ended if they feel it was a tight decision.

That is to ensure the passage of play is allowed to fully develop, in turn enabling a VAR review if a goal or penalty decision follows.

But there has been controversy aplenty under the current system, including Philippe Coutinho’s disallowed goal against Manchester city.

For the Coutinho goal, the assistant flagged too early, and the resulting goal could not be reviewed by VAR.

As authorities strive to be more accurate and efficient, a vote is set to take place over a semi-automated system.

According to The Times, following the conclusion of the World Cup, all 20 Premier League clubs will vote on whether to implement the new system.

As many as nine clubs, including Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Manchester United, Brighton and Hove Albion, Southampton and Nottingham Forest, are all ready to implement the new system, having the necessary equipment in place.

The system will use ball tracking technology to put together a graphic image of the defensive line, quickly determining whether there is an offside player.

It has already been used in the Champions League, and it is expected to pass in the Premier League vote.

The system cannot be fully automated because of the subjective nature of the offside rules.

For example, a player can be offside but not adjudged to be offside due to not interfering with play.

If the technology is passed, it is likely to be implemented in the Premier League next season.