The Premier League will finally introduce semi-automated offside technology for matches from April 12 after months of delays.

The system, which aims to cut the time taken for VAR offside decisions significantly, was used in the FA Cup fifth round and quarter-finals but was involved in a record eight-minute delay in the Bournemouth v Wolverhampton Wanderers match.

The biggest issue in testing, and one which occurred in the FA Cup, has been that it struggles when there are lots of bodies around the ball, but the Premier League is now satisfied that the technology is up to scratch.

The technology now uses extra cameras and artificial intelligence to decide whether a player is offside when the ball is kicked. Similar systems have been used by Fifa since the 2022 World Cup and Uefa in the Champions League for the past three seasons, but the Premier League agreed a deal with a different provider called Second Spectrum, an American software company which is part of Genius Sports.

The system uses “mesh” data that creates an invisible “force field” which, when it is pierced by part of an attacker’s body that can score a goal — ie not their arms or hands — triggers an offside message. An image is provided to the VAR, who will judge if the attacker is interfering with play or not.

A statement said: “The Premier League will introduce semi-automated offside technology on Saturday 12 April [match round 32]. This follows non-live testing in the Premier League and live operation in the FA Cup this season.

“Semi-automated offside technology automates key elements of the offside decision-making process to support the video assistant referee [VAR]. It provides more efficient placement of the virtual offside line, using optical player tracking, and generates virtual graphics to ensure an enhanced in-stadium and broadcast experience for fans.”

Instead of limb-tracking which follows up to 36 points on the body, Second Spectrum’s Dragon system captures 10,000 “surface mesh data points” per player, over 200 times per second.

The semi-automated system will replace the Hawk-Eye system used at the moment, where lines are drawn manually on a screen by a VAR technician and which can lead to delays of two minutes or more.