Premier League plans for automatic offside put brakes on Nike deal

The solution to the automated offside system has been suggested as the preferred option to avoid incidents like the one in the Tottenham vs Liverpool game, in which Klopp’s side were the losers. The assistant raised the flag, indicating that Luis Diaz was offside, the VAR responsible checked the phase using two-dimensional visualization and informed the referee that the goal was wrongly disallowed. A piece of information that the game’s referee did not understand, with the result that he continued the game as normal and Liverpool saw that their goal was not guaranteed.

However, we will only slowly see something like this on England’s pitches, as in the contract with Nikewhich sponsors Premier League balls, has reportedly not extensively tested the new technology in its products and therefore cannot incorporate sensors into its balls.

It will also be difficult for the Premier League to break its long-standing deal with Nike through a partnership Adidas, who has the know-how, because the Al Rihla ball used at the World Cup in Qatar bears her signature. A ball created in collaboration between the German analytics company Kinexon and FIFA’s official ball supplier, Adidas, which also has an agreement with UEFA to supply the Champions League ball.