638 is the number you get when you multiply the number of soccer players on the field, 22, by the number of data points on each player, 29. The World Cup 2022 is in Qatar, Nov. 20 – December 18. In preparation, FIFA has spent three years perfecting an upgraded Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology. This Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be used during all the games. Some fans are skeptical.
Goal-line tech has been around for a while. That is not new. The upgrades this year have to do with offside calls. Offsides basically means that an offensive player is behind the defender when the ball is passed to him, and it can be a very close call. The AI takes the emotion and bias out of it…except if this new tech doesn’t work as intended. Not many people outside of FIFA are 100% convinced it’s going to work yet, and there’s no time left to find out.
The tech is called Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT). It’s a network of what’s called optical tracking cameras around the field that track 29 points on each of the 22 players. As you can imagine, 29 points on a player spread multiple points across the head, arms, knees, feet, and toes can tell you a lot. These cameras are delivering data 50 times per second. When an offsides call is made, SAOT renders a 3D animation of the offsides call. This will be shown on TV and in the stadium. FIFA is anticipating reducing the call time from the current average of 70 seconds down to just 20 seconds.
So how could some fans have a problem with this? Just superstitious? They might be those things, but they raise an interesting point about the whole idea of SAOT. The offside calls are not an either/or decision like whether or not a ball breaks the goal line and scores a goal. With offside calls, there’s more to consider than just the data points on each player’s body at the time the ball is released. For example, you have the referee’s judgement on whether or not a foul was committed during the play, which can affect whether offsides even matter. And, the offside rule is about unfair advantage, so one of the caveats is that the players can’t be offsides if they’re not involved in the play, and that also can be up for interpretation.
If SAOT works well in November, it will be an improvement to VAR.