VAR Offside Rules Explained: How Reviews Actually Work
A VAR offside check comes down to a frozen frame and two lines. Here is how the review actually happens, from Stockley Park to the lines you see on screen.
If you have ever watched a goal get ruled out by a toenail, VAR's offside process is the reason. It looks dramatic on a big screen, but the rule it is enforcing and the process behind the check are both more logical than they appear.
The Offside Rule Itself, Briefly
A player is in an offside position if, at the moment a teammate plays the ball, they are in the opponent's half, closer to the opponent's goal line than the ball, and closer to the goal line than the second-to-last defender. Being in that position is not automatically an offense; the player also has to become involved in active play. For the full breakdown, see our dedicated offside rule explained guide.
Where VAR Reviews Happen: Stockley Park
Every Premier League match is reviewed from a single VAR Hub at Stockley Park in west London, run by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL). Each televised round of matches is monitored from this one site, with a VAR, an assistant VAR and a replay operator assigned to every game. Officials hand in their phones on entry and have no access to outside media until the day's fixtures are finished.
How a VAR Offside Check Actually Works
Offside is treated by the Premier League as a factual check rather than a judgment call, which is why it can be reviewed even on tight margins that wouldn't normally stop play for other decisions. The process:
- The ball is played forward and an attacker becomes involved.
- The VAR team freezes footage at the exact moment the ball left the passer's foot.
- Lines are drawn from the furthest relevant body part of the attacker and the second-to-last defender.
- If any part of the attacker that can legally score a goal is ahead of that defender's line, the player is offside.
Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT)
The Premier League introduced semi-automated offside technology on 12 April 2025, after a period of testing and live use in the FA Cup earlier that season. SAOT uses a network of tracking cameras around the stadium to record data points on players' limbs in real time. An AI system builds a 3D offside line automatically and alerts the VAR team the moment a touch happens.
Crucially, the technology remains semi-automated: a human VAR still has to confirm the system's chosen kick point, since the Premier League's version (unlike some international competitions) does not use a connected ball with a sensor inside it to pinpoint that moment automatically. Once confirmed, broadcasters receive a clean animated graphic showing the two lines, which is what you see replayed on Sky Sports or TNT Sports before a decision is announced.
Why Some Checks Still Take Over a Minute
Even with automated lines, officials must agree on the precise frame the ball was kicked, which body parts are being compared, and whether the attacker was genuinely involved in play. Marginal calls, where a shoulder or a toe is the deciding factor, require the slowest, most careful frame-by-frame review, which is why "VAR check" can still mean a long delay before the goal is confirmed or chalked off.
What Changed for the 2025-26 Season
From the 2025-26 season, Premier League referees began announcing the outcome of VAR reviews over the stadium PA system, giving fans in the ground the same information broadcast viewers get, with one exception: purely factual offside and onside calls, which are not announced the same way since there is no subjective decision to explain.
The Bigger Picture
VAR and semi-automated offside technology exist to correct clear and obvious errors, not to re-referee every marginal moment. The offside line will always be contentious at the margins, since fractions of a second and body shape genuinely decide goals, but the process behind the graphic is far more rigorous than the simple red line on your screen suggests.
Learn the underlying rule in full in our offside rule explained guide, see how clubs rise and fall around these decisions in our Premier League relegation explained piece, or follow more from our soccer coverage.
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Background from Wikipedia
Video assistant referee
The video assistant referee (VAR) is a match official in association football who assists the referee by reviewing decisions using video footage and providing advice to the referee based on those reviews.
The assistant video assistant referee (AVAR) is a match official appointed to assist the VAR in the video operation room and around the pitch. There are three AVARs (AVAR1, AVAR2, sometimes called the support video assistant referee, and AVAR3) who are assigned to different parts of the game that they are charged with reviewing and are in consistent communication with the VAR about possible situations that might warrant further review. The job of the AVAR1 is to watch the main camera and communicate some of the more obvious offenses within the game.
Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Frequently Asked Questions
How does VAR check offside?
VAR freezes the video at the exact moment the ball is played, then draws lines from the attacker's and defender's furthest relevant body parts to judge whether the attacker was ahead of the last defender.
What is semi-automated offside technology?
Semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) uses tracking cameras and AI to generate an offside line automatically, which the VAR team at Stockley Park checks and confirms before informing the referee.
Where is the Premier League's VAR hub?
Every Premier League match is reviewed from a single VAR Hub at Stockley Park in west London, where officials watch every game of the round simultaneously.
Does VAR replace the on-field referee for offside?
No. VAR and semi-automated technology support the officiating team, but a human VAR still verifies the kick point and confirms the final decision before it is sent to the referee.
Why do VAR offside checks sometimes take so long?
Tight calls require officials to pinpoint the exact frame the ball was kicked and to check which body parts count, which can take over a minute even with automated lines assisting the process.
Sources & Official Resources
Rules, schedules and statistics in this article are checked against these official sources. See our editorial policy for how we fact-check.
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