FIFA has approved the use of semi-automatic intrusion detection technology during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, a technology that aims to speed referee decisions and make them more reliable following the adoption of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) at the World Cup. Russia 2018. .
This technology, which was tested during the Arab States Cup competition at the end of 2021 and then the Club World Cup, aims to improve reliability and speed up intrusion detection.
This technology has been called “semi-automatic” because the final decision of whether or not to be offside is ultimately up to VAR, unlike goal line detection technology, which unequivocally determines that the ball has crossed the line.
The new technology, which will be used at the global football tournament scheduled to run from November 21 to December 18, relies on 12 cameras placed on the roof of the stadium to monitor “up to 29 data points” for each player “50 times per second.” This is stated in the message “FIFA”.
A sensor located in the center of the ball sends data to the viewing room “500 times per second”, which allows you to determine when the ball is being played with much greater accuracy than the human eye can.
“Through the integration of (this) data and the use of artificial intelligence,” a warning will be sent to video referees “every time the ball is received by an attacker who was in an offside position at the time of the pass.”
Within “a few seconds” they will have to manually check the timing of the pass, as well as the series of offsides, before informing the head referee, who will make the final decision.
And the referee’s decision to allow French striker Kylian Mbappe’s controversial October 2021 goal in the Roosters’ 2-1 win over Spain in the European Nations League final as an admission of the impossibility of fully automating the infiltration process, once the players’ whereabouts are taken into account, remains to be assessed. whether an opponent can intentionally put the ball back in play.
In order for fans in the stadium to better understand the referees’ decisions, the images will then be converted into 3D animations that can be displayed on a large screen inside the stadium, as defined by FIFA.