FIFA World Cup 2022 - Technology Written All Over It

Asoke K Laha, President & MD, Interra Information Technologies
 

For sports lovers and in particular football fans, the period between November 20 and December 18, was undoubtedly an exciting time. Being played in the Middle East, first time to be hosted by an Asian country, Qatar, the people in the sub-continent could watch the games in full without being interrupted by sleep unlike the earlier games, which used to take place mostly in the western hemisphere. This time around, I understand, the football frenzy has gripped all across without any age or gender bar. 

You may ask me why I am eulogizing football in this column, where I am supposed to deal mostly with IT. My question to my readers is that: can they point out any feat marvellously empowered and enabled by IT as the recent FIFA World Cup, which will enter in the annals of history in the next few days. While I am penning this column, the semi-finals have to be played with the finals slotted for December 18. 

Let me explain a bit about the technology that has gone into the organization of the world cup and that makes this year’s tournament a cut above the previous ones. Let me also vouch that the coming tournaments will be more exciting than the present one, going by the technology that is going into it, not necessarily for organization of the tournament, conduct of the matches, crowd management but also for surveillance of the matches and to make decisions cent percent accurate. 

Not many know that FIFA 2022, right from the beginning, was driven by technology. The tournament uses a technology which is absolutely state-of-the -art,  which has 12 dedicated tracking cameras mounted underneath the roof of the stadiums to track the ball, as well as up to 29 data points on each individual player, which are tracked 50 times per second, calculating their exact position on the pitch. Was that the reason why this tournament had a record number of off-sides, some of them were taken dousing the excitement of the teams and their fans, who burst into huddling and cheering each other supported by hysteric fans to realize later, that it was not a goal because while shooting the player was on the wrong side, which in football nomenclature is known as offside. Earlier, this decision was left to the discretion of the referees and the players had to be abided by his decision. Now, every movement of the ball and positions of the players are tracked by several cameras built atop the roof of the stadium. The feeds will go to both referees and “war room” on a real time basis to help them to make an accurate decision in seconds. If the referee’s decision is wrong, on appeal by the team, the decision can be reviewed by the war room, which is equipped with several monitors to track the positions of the players and movements of the ball.

It is not yet over; the balls are also fitted with sensors of a unique type that can send feeds to the cameras, referees and war room to keep an additional window for monitoring. Let me also explain what is unique about these balls. For semi-finals and finals the ball that will be used is called “Al Hilm” in Arabic, which means  “the dream” and is made by Adidas, the global company specialized in this work. It features “connected ball” technology to aid semi-automated offside decisions.  

The official match ball used in the tournament so far till the quarter final stage  is named “ Al Rihla”, or 'The Journey'. It is also known for its technological excellence and of latest technological advances in ball design.  It is also made by Adidas, using proven connected technology, helping match officials to make faster and more accurate decisions. The innovation offers video match officials instant data, to help optimize decision making for a seamless fan experience.

The new technology works with sensors that capture data and processes through application of Artificial Intelligence (AI).  The new technology supports the semi-automated offside system by providing the exact moment the ball is played to help the referee to take the correct decision during tight offside situations. The ball technology provides an  additional important layer of information available to the video match officials, thereby unlocking new insights into the game through data mining. The ball is also environment friendly since it is using only water-based inks and glues. The design of the ball has a distinct desert touch that surrounds the host city. The message that conveys through the icon on the football is clear and vivid: football can bring the world together.

The balls used till quarter finals have a connect with the Indian sub-continent. It is manufactured in Pakistan, to be more specific-Sialkot by Forward Sports, a multinational sports equipment company in the north-eastern city of Sialkot. The company has been working with Adidas AG for almost 20 years. It is one of the manufacturers of Adidas' Al Rihla, the official World Cup ball. The company is said to have   made 5.5 million Al Rihla balls, including 60,000 high-quality replicas of the balls used in matches. The match balls are made in China by Adidas by an undisclosed manufacturer.

That is about balls and how technology has transformed them. Now look at the Qatar government's mandatory Apps for those who are real time spectators of the Soccer World Cup. It is a marvellous example of data security bordering privacy nightmare, which have evoked a fair degree of controversies.  Security experts have warned that downloading the Apps, as a prerequisite to enter the ground, has a  security risk since they can considerably compromise their personal data. Spectators have to download two apps - Ehteraz, an app aimed to track COVID-19, and Hayya, which will be used to enter football grounds, and to gain free access to Qatar's public transportation for ticket holders. 

Ehteraz, the contact tracking app, experts say,  is an incursion into personal freedom as it allows unsolicited  remote access to one’s movement. Though it is installed to track the Covid-19 to know the location of the people, the app can read and write the file systems, which experts say,  an incursion into personal freedom.   

The Hayya app, which allows ticket holders to enter stadiums and use the public transportation system for free can be used to determine the exact location of the person. It does not have a  sleep mode and can view the phone's network connections.  French data protection authority CNIL has recommended fans traveling to the World Cup use a "burner phone", in order to avoid the possible data and privacy violations that the mandatory apps might cause. 

Let me avoid my predictions and predilections as to who will lift the prestigious FIFA cup, since by the time this column gets published, the game would be over.  I feel the sports world with the use of sensors and artificial intelligence will get transformed. Also, the connected ball technology will make inroads into non-spot areas  scripting radical changes. The same technology can be used for all other games and sports. 

One obvious thing that came to my mind during the tournament is that the number of Africans or people of African origin are more than from any other continent. They were there in almost all teams, be they from East or West. Importantly, a few countries like Senegal, Cameroon, Ghana etc have made grades in the present tournament and even defeated teams from nations known to be invincible in football.