FIFA plans to use robots as referees in Qatar 2022

Last update 19 August, 2020 por Alberto Llopis

FIFA is evaluating the possibility of incorporating robots in the next World Cup. In accordance with The Daily Mail, the top soccer body is seriously looking at the use of robots as linesmen in Catar 2022, in order to more quickly and accurately identify offside in matches.

According to the English medium, With the use of this technology, the lines will be automatically drawn on the court. When an offside occurs, an alarm will sound, as is currently the case with goals.

To the chief technology officer of the world football governing body, Johannes Holzmuller, the idea is to “speed up the review of such game situations by the video assistant referee”. In statements to the German channel ARD, He specified that with this measure they seek to eliminate the lines currently drawn by the video assistant to determine possible offsides.

As support for this proposal, this technology has already been used in 2019 at the Club World Championship, in which Liverpool was crowned champion.

The incorporation of robots into the beautiful game is just one more sample of what artificial intelligence is doing around the world, indicates the writer Cristina Fernández of the Zonatech technology portal. "Robots have burst into every industry. It is estimated that for 2025 automation processes will eliminate 75 million jobs. The coronavirus pandemic has only accelerated this trend with robots capable of using haptic technology ", states.

Soccer has not been alien to this technological evolution. For some years now, the ‘Hawk Eye’ was incorporated to determine whether or not the ball completely enters the goal line. He videoarbitraje(VAR) It has also represented an important leap to help the referee decide on specific plays. Despite these advances, FIFA has decided to keep the head judge as the ultimate responsible for what happens on the field of play.

But this process of change has taken some time, because many voices stated that the incorporation of technology would take away from football the ‘mystique’ and ‘controversy’ that has accompanied sport for years. Nowadays, games increasingly resemble sports like football, which has adapted to the incorporation of changes over the years.

The use of technology in soccer will continue over time and experts predict that sensors will be implemented in the clothing used by soccer players. Con ello, provide the coaching staff and viewers with all kinds of information: heart rate, velocity of displacement, terrain covered, etc while, cameras adjusted to the footballers' clothing are also provided, so that the spectators will have a perspective of the match from the point of view of the players.