The most popular sport on the planet has been increasingly using technological advances to improve itself.
There is no doubt that soccer is the most famous physical activity on the planet. Therefore, it is quite expected that in light of digital transformation, where AI plays a central role, this sport will also benefit from technological progress, since this also happens in other fields of human activity, from arts, sciences, culture, leisure to education.
One of the points that has been drawing more attention recently to the use of technology within the four lines is the video assistant referee (VAR), the tool responsible for checking controversial plays, and the public is gradually getting used to it. However, FIFA is developing an algorithm capable of detecting offside shots with greater clarity and precision.
The tool is able to capture up to 20 body parts from the player, and compare them with the virtual offside line, projected from the opposing defender, precisely indicating the exact moment when the ball left the passer’s foot, composing a frame. It is worth noting that, according to the offside rule, only parts that can touch the ball are recorded in the calculations. Therefore, hands, forearm and upper arm are out of the picture.
But what is the relationship between VAR and Artificial Intelligence?
Artificial Intelligence aims to help humans in decision making.
Using images from other games, AI was taught to detect the exact moment when the player crosses the offside line, and thus, the response comes much faster than the one from a human eye.
It was used in the 2021 Arab Cup in Qatar, the first major event used by FIFA (International Football Federation) to test the new system, which has already been used experimentally in championships in Germany, Spain and England. The entity had already put AI into action at the last World Cup, in 2018, but without effectively interfering in arbitration decisions.
Despite speeding up the process, AI does not use common sense to make decisions and can often end up invalidating offside moves by just a few millimeters that would normally not be noticed.
The Premier League (professional football league in England), one of the most influential in the world, considering all the adjustments made to VAR in search of better results, decided to thicken the offside line, which will avoid minute interference and facilitate the acceleration in the decision-making process that AI can provide to the video referee.
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