EVS’ video assistant referee (VAR) solution Xeebra has been chosen by NEP Denmark to provide exclusive VAR capabilities to the Danish League for its top football tier the 3F Superliga.
Built on EVS’ industry-standard replay technology, the system has been deployed since the start of the season and will be used in all matches throughout the 2020/2021season.
The deployment is being managed locally by NEP Denmark, a long-time EVS partner that has extensive experience in producing live coverage of Danish football. For this project, NEP is deploying custom-built VAR vans, each equipped with a Xeebra. Each multi-camera review system from EVS supports up to 16 cameras, including Super Motion cameras, and all camera angles can be accessed instantly during a match. This setup enables the VAR, assistant VAR and replay operator – who are all stationed on-site – to accurately assist the on-field official in their decisions.
With Xeebra, they can review any match action and select the most relevant camera angles, with simple touch-and-pinch gestures letting them zoom in and analyse every angle in detail. The solution is said to provide officials with everything they need to make the right call, meaning reviews can be completed quickly, efficiently and in complete synchronisation.
As part of the Xeebra deployment, EVS is also supplying its AI-driven virtual offside line, which is certified by FIFA, to automatically calibrate the field of play and produce a virtual offside line in real-time. Using this functionality, the 3F Superliga VAR operators can swiftly add an offside line, enabling them to review player positions with the assurance that they are getting the highest levels of precision. The EVS virtual offside line does not require any complex or time-consuming configuration prior to the match and does not require an extra operator. As a result, the Xeebra replay operator has easy access to all the tools needed to assist the VAR quickly and efficiently.
Since the selection of Xeebra as the official VAR system, both the Danish League and NEP have organised extensive trainings in accordance with the IFAB/FIFA protocol for 3F Superliga officials and replay operators. A combination of theoretical training, simulator training and practical training using the Xeebra system was used.
“The intuitive nature of Xeebra enables replay operators to be onboarded very quickly, while its user-friendly design means it can be used by less experienced operators compared to other VAR systems,” said François Gillet, solutions specialist at EVS.
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