The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) announced that the Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT) will once again be present in the finals of the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana 2025. Following its successful debut last season, the South American body confirmed that both this tool and the Goal Line Technology (GLT) — both fully developed by CONMEBOL itself — will be used again with the aim of raising the standards of justice and transparency in refereeing. The SAOT and GLT were successfully applied in the 2024 Sudamericana Final between Racing and Cruzeiro, in the Libertadores Final between Botafogo and Atlético Mineiro, and in the 2025 Recopa which pitted Racing against Botafogo. As highlighted by the Referees' Commission, the implementation of these technologies represented a qualitative leap in the precision of decisions and notably reduced review times in controversial plays, reinforcing confidence in the assistant refereeing systems. The operation of the SAOT depends on a complex technical system: 24 high-speed cameras installed around the stadium, 14 dedicated to goal-line detection and 10 to offside tracking. These cameras capture more than 200 frames per second with a resolution superior to 500 pixels per meter, processing in real-time the position of the players and the ball through an automated optical tracking system. The system analyzes over one million data points per second, allowing for millimeter-precise determination of each doubtful play. In this way, CONMEBOL continues to position itself at the forefront of technological innovation in world football. The sustained application of the SAOT and GLT not only seeks to guarantee faster and more accurate decisions but also to consolidate a more transparent, modern, and reliable refereeing in the continent's most important competitions.
