Genius Sports Limited, a global leader in real-time sports data and technology, today announced an expansion of its longstanding partnership with the Argentine Football Association (“AFA”) to introduce semi-automated offside technology (“SAOT”) across Argentina’s top-flight football competition, Liga Profesional de Fútbol.

The agreement marks another major step in Genius Sports’ growing role as a technology partner to world football. By combining advanced camera tracking, artificial intelligence and automated decision visuals, Genius Sports will help Argentine officials make faster, more accurate offside decisions while giving millions of fans greater clarity over some of football’s most closely contested moments.

“Argentinian football fans deserve the best matchday experience and semi-automated offside technology is a crucial solution for delivering fast and accurate decisions that keep them informed of what is happening in the game,” said Claudio Tapia, President of AFA. “Genius Sports has developed and launched the most advanced SAOT in world football with proven results across the biggest leagues and we’re delighted to expand our partnership with them,” he added.

Offside decisions have become one of the most scrutinized aspects of modern football. While video assistant referees (VAR) have introduced new tools to support match officials, lengthy reviews can interrupt the flow of games and leave supporters waiting to understand why a goal has been allowed or disallowed. The challenge is not simply to make decisions more accurately, but to make the process faster, clearer and easier for everyone watching to understand.

Genius Sports addresses that challenge through GeniusIQ, its sports data and AI platform, which transforms live match action into detailed tracking data and actionable information.

Computer vision cameras installed across Argentina’s top-flight stadiums will capture the movement and positioning of players, creating a detailed digital representation of the action. GeniusIQ will process that information in real time to support VAR officials and produce clear, three-dimensional visualizations of offside incidents.

• Faster decisions: Automatically identify the moment the ball is played and alert VAR operators to potential offside incidents, reducing the time spent reviewing footage.
• Greater precision: Track player positioning and identify the relevant attackers and defenders to support accurate offside assessments.
• Clearer explanations: Generate 3D visualizations that show why a player has been judged onside or offside.
• Better fan experiences: Deliver decision visuals to broadcasters and in-stadium screens following the officiating process, helping supporters understand decisions with less uncertainty.

Beyond officiating, Genius Sports’ GeniusIQ platform creates a foundation for further innovation across Argentine football, using the same advanced tracking infrastructure to power data-driven coaching insights, enhanced broadcasts and more engaging fan experiences.

“The most exciting thing about this partnership is that we’re bringing our proven GeniusIQ technology to Argentine football to make officiating faster, more accurate and more transparent,” said Steven Burton, Chief Commercial Strategy Officer at Genius Sports. “At the same time, we’re establishing the infrastructure for a much bigger opportunity: to unlock new insights for teams, richer experiences for broadcasters and entirely new ways for fans to engage with the game. That’s the future we’re building with partners like AFA, where a single technology platform can create value across the entire football ecosystem.”

Beginning with the Clausura final on December 12, the new technology will launch fully across the Liga Profesional de Fútbol before Torneo Clausura 2027, which starts in July.