How technology is helping to eliminate errors in the people’s game

Technology is helping football players improve their performance as well as providing assistance to officials so they can avoid errors of judgment. It was a mistake by a referee at the 2010 World Cup that ultimately led to the introduction of goal-line technology designed to avoid such embarrassing and far-reaching blunders. At the 2022 World Cup, newer more controversial technology, such as Video Assistant Referees (VAR), were busier than ever.

A more controversial technological advancement in football is the video assistant referee, more commonly known as VAR. The technology was first used at a World Cup in 2018 and is employed in the top leagues in Europe, such as the Premier League, LaLiga, and the Bundesliga. VAR is used to review a few types of decisions: whether or not a goal or penalty is valid, whether a straight red card is justified and, for reasons of mistaken identity, when yellow or red cards are awarded.

The influence of VAR was highlighted during the 2022 World Cup with a total of 25 decisions overturned. In the World Cup final between Argentina and France, VAR took a second look at a series of contentious decisions. VAR confirmed that referee Szymon Marciniak was right to award a penalty after Angel Di Maria was tripped by Ousmane Dembele, and upheld the decision to award France a spot kick after a handball in the box by Gonzalo Montiel. Argentina eventually won on penalties, despite the efforts of Kylian Mbappé, who scored a hat-trick for France. Led by the mercurial Mbappé, Les Bleus are set to play a dominant role in world soccer over the next few years. They are priced at odds of +600 to win Euro 2024 and are +550 favourites to win the 2026 World Cup, according to the latest outright sports betting markets. The signs are that France has every chance to make up for the World Cup disappointment and Mbappé’s speed and dribbling skills will certainly keep VAR busy.

The issue for fans is that VAR decisions can be lengthy and for many the spontaneity and, in some cases, the controversy inherent in sport has been lost. It is felt that the clinical nature of VAR has removed something intrinsic from the sport, one aspect being the human input of the referee to make a split-second decision on crucial elements of the game.

Another consequence of VAR is that it has removed one aspect of the sport that all fans like to engage in when discussing the main talking points of the game. The arguments about whether or not Geoff Hurst’s goal actually crossed the line in the 1966 World Cup final at Wembley continue to this day.

Mistakes made by officials during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa created such an outcry that FIFA had no option but to implement goal-line technology. The most egregious error occurred in Bloemfontein when England’s Frank Lampard was denied a goal against Germany: his shot hit the bar and clearly bounced behind the line. The Uruguayan officials decreed that the ball did not cross the line and the game continued. The goal would have levelled the score at 2-2, but in the end, Germany won 4-1 and advanced to the quarter-finals. The technology now means that ghost goals are a thing of the past and its objective decision-making has been contrasted with VAR where it is used to rule on subjective decisions.

Technology is not just ensuring players stay within the rules, it is also helping athletes improve their performance. A prime example of this can be seen at The Waterstone College, in Kibler Park, Johannesburg where the Playmaker, a form of performance analytics technology that functions via motion smart sensors, is being utilised. Essentially, the sensors are strapped to the player’s boots and when play begins, performance data is collected and synced with an app providing valuable data such as distance covered, top speed and touches.

Technology in sports is not just helping officials ensure the rules of the game are followed to avoid injustices, the innovations are also providing benefits to coaches and players to ensure they are performing at their best and highlighting areas of the game that would benefit from extra training.