Euro 2024 innovations help referees, but some problems tech can't solve | Euro 2024

International football tournaments have frequently produced innovations, be it in playing styles, tactical approaches or, as in the case of the Romanian team going all blonde in 1998. In recent years, we have been able to enjoy a different kind of novelty (if that is the right word): technological developments aimed at helping referees apply the rules effectively.

The trend has continued this summer in Germany. Euro 2024 sees the introduction of what UEFA calls connected-ball technology, a much less descriptive name than what cricket has long called a Snikometer, a device that detects physical contact between objects through sound. In cricket, the stumps have microphones to detect the slightest snico between bat and pad. At the Euros, the ball has a microchip embedded in it that performs the same function, and during Belgium's defeat to Slovakia, the crafty little thing registered the slightest contact with Los Opendas's hand, making him the first player to be brought down by a snico.

Openda's blunder to deny Belgium an equaliser was perhaps the most high-profile refereeing intervention so far at the tournament and remains memorable. The use of VAR at Euro 2024 has generally been seen as a success. Is this the future they promised us? Well, maybe.

Alongside Snicko, fans, players and coaches are also becoming accustomed to the semi-automatic offside technology (SAOT). The technology has been deployed before, making its official debut at the Qatar World Cup, but is more visible in Germany and is coming under increased scrutiny as the domestic league prepares to introduce the technology (due to be introduced in the Premier League this autumn).

What SAOT has arguably achieved is cutting the time it takes referees to make decisions. Using the aforementioned chip, and coordinating with body positions captured by cameras around the ground, the SAOT software means VAR officials don't have to waste time tediously drawing lines; all the official has to do is look at the results the software has given them and make sure they're not obviously wrong.

UEFA will publish data on the performance of VAR and SAOT at the end of the group stages, but rough calculations suggest that SAOT will shave 30 seconds off the average of 70 it previously took VAR to rule offside. Improved information, both in the graphics showing the body parts in violation of offside calls and in the explanatory text displayed on the big screens in stadiums, has also strengthened the impression that the system is working.

Romelu Lukaku thought he had scored against Romania but was slightly offside. Photo: Ian McNicol/Getty Images

So does that mean there have been no complaints? Of course not.

The decision to rule out Xavi Simons' goal against France on Friday night for offside against Netherlands teammate Denzel Dumfries sparked uproar and debate. Hungary coach Marco Rossi accused VAR of double standards after it failed to detect a foul during his team's opening goal against Germany in Group A (he later claimed a foul had been awarded during a similar incident inside the German penalty area). Unfortunately for Romelu Lukaku, he has had three goals ruled out in two games – one after the Openda Snijko incident and another after an offside decision involving the knee.

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Such disputes are a reminder that some things in football cannot be solved by any amount of technology. Most of the rules require subjective interpretation by the referee. In Symonds' goal, the issue was whether Dumfries had prevented Mike Maignan from reaching the ball, not whether the goalkeeper would have missed it anyway. Openda clearly set off the Snikometer, but did he do it deliberately, as is required of any attacking player other than the scorer when VAR intervenes? The referee ruled yes. Rossi thought Ilkay Gundogan had shoved Willi Orban, but Gundogan said: “If that was a foul in the Premier League, I think everyone would have been laughing on the court.”

One issue that received considerable criticism was the time it took to adjudicate the Dumfries player – not whether he was offside (a rule that requires no subjective interpretation) but whether he had disrupted the game. It took almost three minutes from when referee Anthony Taylor blew the whistle for offside until video assistant referee Stuart Attwell confirmed the decision on the field.

And yes, this is the same Attwell who incurred the wrath of Nottingham Forest by missing three penalties in a Premier League match against Luton (though the referees said he arguably should have awarded one). Attwell could not have relied on SAOT to make the decision, but that may not explain everything, meaning English referees are likely to continue to be under scrutiny, even away from home.

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