2018 FIFA World Cup: The technology supporting the tournament
Football has been infamously slow at embracing technology. However, football's resistance to tech has weakened over the past few years, and rightly so. Perhaps the most notable aspect is FIFA's increasing willingness to use technology, a fact manifest in this year's World Cup. Here, we give you a glimpse of the technology being used at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Goal-line technology: Guarding against 1966-type debacles
Despite our familiarity with it, goal-line technology deserves a mention. The technology uses tracking cameras and circuits, built into footballs and goalposts, to determine a goal. 2014 World Cup saw the first-ever use of this tech at the grand stage, and FIFA's been using it ever since. This year, as well, goal-line technology stands as the last line of defense against a 1966-type debacle.
The case for goal-line technology: Geoff Hurst's infamous ghost goal
In the 1966 FIFA World Cup final between England and Germany, a shot from England's Geoff Hurst in extra time was ruled a goal, despite it not crossing the goal line. The goal gave England a 3-2 lead and cost West Germany the World Cup.
The most high-profile tech addition to this year's World Cup
The most high-profile tech addition to this year's World Cup is, of course, the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). The use of VAR in the World Cup will allow the on-field referee to rely on verbal information from the VAR, or to inspect the video footage of an incident (goals, penalties, direct red cards, mistaken identities) on the sidelines before coming to a decision.
How the VAR assists on-field referees
The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) has a team of three assistant video assistant referees (AVAR 1, 2, and 3), and all four of them are top FIFA officials. The VAR team doesn't take any decision, but supports on-field match officials from a centralized video operation room (VOR) located in Moscow's International Broadcast Centre (IBC). The video feeds from matches are analyzed in real-time.
Thomas Muller speaks in favour of VAR
"I'm definitely in favor of the VAR, because it makes football for sure much more honest," said Germany's Thomas Muller, a World Cup as well as a Golden Boot winner. Muller's sentiments are shared by many professional footballers.
The EPTS allows real-time data analysis during a match
The 2018 FIFA World Cup is also using something called the Electronic Performance & Tracking Systems (EPTS). Using two optical tracking cameras, positional data about players and the ball is made available to analysts in real-time. This allows teams' technical and medical analysts to directly provide real-time insights to the coaching and medical staff for decision-making during the game.
4K and VR are being used for the first time
For the first time ever, 4k and VR feeds of matches are being made available to the broadcasters. Select broadcasters will be able to telecast the World Cup matches in 4K Ultra HD quality to enhance TV viewing experience. VR feeds will also be available to some broadcasters, BBC being a big name among them.
