The Premier League has said "significant progress" has been made with testing of semi-automated VAR offside technology (SAOT) in recent weeks, adding that it still plans to introduce the new system this season.

It's almost a year since clubs unanimously voted to bring in the technology, which is intended to reduce the time taken for an offside check by an average of 31 seconds.

The system was not ready at the start of the season, but it was supposed to be brought in "after one of the Autumn international breaks."

However, no information was forthcoming on the progress of testing, and as the calendar crossed into 2025 it seemed as though SAOT would not arrive in the 2024-25 campaign.

Extensive testing and analysis was conducted throughout last season but the Premier League is not yet confident the technology is fully reliable and won't use it live until it is.

"We are still testing it, but we are making significant progress," Tony Scholes, the Premier League's chief football officer, revealed on Tuesday. "We're in a different place to when I spoke to managers just over Christmas, we've made a lot of progress in this area.

"Now I'm hopeful that at some point this season we will be able to introduce semi-automated technology but I repeat the points I've made a number of times. We are not going to introduce it if we've got any doubts at all with regards to its operation."

SAOT removes the manual element of placing the lines onto players and to pitch level, making it quicker and more accurate. SAOT also provides a much-improved graphical visualisation of an offside decision, rather than the existing method of displaying lines on the broadcast camera.

FIFA and UEFA have used an enhanced system in the World Cup and the UEFA Champions League, which sees a chip inside the ball for better detection of when the ball has been touched. However, Adidas owns the patent for that system, and none of the major European leagues use the company as ball supplier.

Serie A was the first European domestic league to switch to SAOT, introducing it in January 2023 after a high-profile VAR error early in that campaign had seen a stoppage-time winning goal for Juventus incorrectly disallowed.

LaLiga became the second top European league to move over to SAOT at the start of this season, though its accuracy has been called into doubt several times including when Robert Lewandowski had a goal disallowed for Barcelona against Real Sociedad.

Questions have been raised about the Premier League developing its own SAOT, when other leagues have already introduced it.

"The system that we've adopted, we believe it to be the best system," Scholes added. "We believe it to be the most accurate and the most futureproof system as well and that's why we went with that.

"I have to confess, given the difficulties that we had over the first few months of the season, I had severe doubts about this, but the progress made over the last four to six weeks has been significant.

"We believe we're going to be adopting the best system and the most accurate system without the need for the chip in the ball."

Scholes also defended the prospect of switching from the legacy VAR offside technology to SAOT when the majority of the season will have been played.

"It's a very fair question and we've sort of questioned ourselves about this," Scholes admitted. "But fundamentally, the operation of semi-automated offside technology does not change the integrity of the offside law and doesn't change the integrity of the decision making.

"What it does is makes the process more efficient. So if we hold true to that basis that we're not actually changing the integrity of it, we're just making it more efficient, you arrive at a place that says, well, why wouldn't you introduce it when you're absolutely confident it's ready.

"Clearly if we're not confident until the last two or three match rounds, I think you then arrive at a pragmatic place where you just say it wouldn't make sense to introduce it now. But if we're able to introduce it in advance of that, then it's something that we are actively considering."

Scholes also insisted that marked improvements have been seen in refereeing standards this season, despite several notable errors. The statistics produced by the Premier League's Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel revealed that the number of errors after 23 games had fallen from 20 last season to 13 in the 2024-25 campaign.

He added that the Elite Referee Development Plan, which aims to fast-track promising referees through the level, is already producing results.

"These are referees whose potential has been identified and plucked out from whatever level they're operating in the game," Scholes explained. "We're investing in them to shorten the time it takes them to get to the league. Sixty-five games have been officiated by officials in the development group already this season at a level higher than they operate.

"Two years ago, Sam Barrott was a League One and League Two referee. He's now on the FIFA list. And then there's Lewis Smith, who's refereed four Premier League games. Two years ago, Lewis was refereeing Premier League Two [academy teams] and National League games. So PGMOL deserved great credit for the work that they are doing in shortening the amount of time it takes for these officials to come through to be able to officiate in the Premier league."

Scholes also revealed that the Premier League intends to introduce referees announcing VAR decisions to the crowd, which has been tested in the Carabao Cup semifinals, at the start of next season. The Bundesliga became the first major European league to trial it, starting with select fixtures last weekend.

Scholes added that he wants fans inside the stadium to have "at least an equal experience as to those at home" when it comes to VAR, and the league's position is "to get to a place where we have full visibility and full audio of the conversation between the referee and the VAR."

The Premier League will continue to lobby for change with the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which controls VAR protocol.

All 13 VAR errors in the Premier League this season

Incorrect interventions (4)

1. AFC Bournemouth 1-1 Newcastle United, Aug. 25
Dango Ouattara goal disallowed for handball ('90+2)

2. West Ham United 2-1 Manchester United, Oct. 27
Penalty awarded for a foul by Matthijs de Ligt on Danny Ings ('90+2)

3. Everton 0-0 Brentford, Nov. 23
Christian Nørgaard sent off for serious foul play ('39)

4. Nottingham Forest 3-2 Southampton, Jan. 19
No Chris Wood offside offence on goal ('64)

Missed interventions (9)

1. Man United 0-3 Tottenham Hotspur, Sept. 29
Serious foul play, red card to Bruno Fernandes ('41)

2. Aston Villa 2-2 Crystal Palace, Nov. 23
DOGSO, red card not given to Ian Maatsen ('65)

3. Everton 4-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers, Dec. 4
Abdoulaye Doucouré offside offence on goal ('72)

4. Nottingham Forest 2-1 Aston Villa, Dec. 14
Penalty not awarded. Foul by Elliot Anderson ('34)*

5. West Ham 1-1 Brighton & Hove Albion, Dec. 21
Serious foul play, red card not given to Pervis Estupiñán ('84)

6. Brighton 0-0 Brentford, Dec. 27
Violent conduct, red card not given to João Pedro ('75)

7. West Ham 0-5 Liverpool, Dec. 29
Penalty not awarded. Foul by Alexis Mac Allister ('35)

8. Ipswich Town 0-2 Brighton, Jan. 19
Penalty not awarded. Foul by Wes Burns ('11)

9. Wolves 0-1 Arsenal, Jan. 25
Serious foul play, red card to Myles Lewis-Skelly ('43)

*Panel stated the penalty may not have been awarded due to a prior foul but this should have been decided on review.