Football has always been a fan-driven game. Over the years, several aspects of the game have been improved thanks to advanced technology and scientific breakthroughs. This has made the game more refined, and calling fouls and offsides or deciding on goals or penalties have become much easier for the sporting officials. These advancements also let the committee be more transparent, as no game aspect needs to be under wraps which makes the fan base grip tighter.
Qatar was elected the host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and it started working on the project aiming to ensure that technology can be used at its best for the world’s biggest tournaments. Here are 5 such mentions below.
1. Stadium Cooling:
The FIFA world cup usually occurs during June and July as it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere, however as this is the first time the world cup is being held in the Arab, hence the organizers had to make the concession of shifting it to the cooler months to avoid the scorching summer temperature of the middle east.
According to Rehanarabi.com, Qatar did not have a functional football stadium earlier, as it was chosen as the host of the world cup for the first time. They had to build several stadiums around Qatar for the tournament matches. They have implemented a cooling technology in these stadiums with an energy center built outside, which is responsible for pushing chilled water into pipelines around the stadium and the fields. This chilled water is converted into the cold air that is pushed into the stadium. This is one of the most advanced technologies used in the world cup to date.
2. Use of Super Computers:
Before any tournament, analysts play a vital role in analyzing the chances of the teams in the qualifying tournament and how to improve those chances. This is done through data and videos collected of the players’ previous performances and current stances. This helps make vital decisions for a team that can lead them to victory.
3. Artificial Intelligence:
Scientists have created robots that make use of Artificial Intelligence to predict the exact match scores. Keep in mind these are predictions based on the large amount of data fed to the system, and the outcome varies accordingly. This helps the team decide its next move. Along with it, this is also widely used in the sports betting industry to predict the winning chances of a team so that the gamblers can win more money.
Several online sports betting sites are trusted and reputed and can be used for online sports betting. While most of these betting sites are legal, you need to verify your local area laws to know if it is legal to sports bet in your area. Most if these sites are operated from a country where betting is legal; hence it becomes legal for most nationalities to gamble on such sites.
4. Al Rihla: World Cup Ball:
The world cup ball itself is made from the latest technology. It is named Al Rihla, which means “the journey.” It is durable and lightweight, which helps it travel faster than previous match balls. It has an inertial measurement unit (IMU) placed inside it that helps the referee make accurate and quick decisions. In fact, the data collected will be sent to the video operation room, ensuring no data goes missing during the gameplay.
5. Goal-Line Technology:
This technology has been used in European leagues but in the world cup, its most advanced version is being used. This technology helps he referred in making accurate final decisions on goals, and FIFA is used 14 high-speed cameras to boost it up. The results will be sent to the match official in seconds, which can be visualized through a 3D animation on their TV screens.
In Conclusion:
In the modern days, football takes advantage of the number of stakeholders who often rely on technology to make decisions. The aim of such a large football body is to ensure that technology can be seamlessly integrated into sports to help the players be maximum efficient and offer the audience different channels of entertainment.