The Dubai Sports Conference and Exhibition, organized by the Dubai Sports Council under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, concluded yesterday under the slogan «Together we make the future of sport» Five sessions were attended by a number of specialists, entities and companies concerned with artificial intelligence, and concluded with the signing of several agreements between the Dubai Sports Council and some companies and organizations participating.
The first session focused on the role played by artificial intelligence in innovation and development, to provide accurate data and information about sports in general and football in particular.
FIFA's Chief Technology and Innovation Director, Johannes Holz-Mueller, revealed that FIFA now has about four million databases on the game in general and the individuals they play, thanks to the tremendous development of technology in recent years. He said: “Since the arrival of Infantino as president of the International Federation, there has been a great interest in technology or so-called artificial intelligence, to improve the football experience and to provide the greatest possible justice. To improve the experience of football and to provide the greatest possible fairness between teams and teams, this was achieved in the last World Cup if we look at the technology introduced by (FIFA), where we used six advanced techniques compared to the World Cup Brazil 2014, which used only one technology . He added: "We surveyed the public on whether they wanted to introduce technology to football matches, and the surprise was that 81% of them were supporters of this advanced technology. The fans wanted to see a fairer performance and a careful follow-up of the players on the ground."
He added: "We have introduced advanced systems to provide accurate and accurate data on the performance of players through 40 cameras located in the studios to track players and their decisions, moment by moment, and we have converted what the players from positions to data to take advantage of them."
Alessio Rossi, dean of the Faculty of Technology at the University of Pisa, said the tremendous development in technology, or artificial intelligence, has helped administrators make the right decisions about the choice of players.
"When you are president of a club and you want to choose players for your team, you will definitely put Ronaldo at the forefront of your choice, but what if you don't have the money to sign Ronaldo?" "You will use the artificial intelligence database provided by players, especially if they are not well known." He explained that «there are programs in the world can provide simple and clear information about the performance of players, both in terms of longitudinal or short passes and the proportion of their decisions they made throughout the entire season, and this makes the decisions for managers sound with a high degree of accuracy». "The data is no longer available only to players, but AI has helped to provide data on 30,000 global events to see how athletes are doing and how they got up with their use of advanced technologies. This development was only possible thanks to technology."
The President of the International Federation of Electronic Sports, Colin Webster, that the technology in the field of artificial intelligence aims to analyze sports and choose a clear approach to the players through the data and accurate information it provides to reach a higher level from the sports side. “The role of artificial intelligence is no longer limited to accurate information as well, but it also affects players' behaviors,” he said. "They knew how to face the audience on the stadiums and in front of television screens better and more productive than in the past."
"In the past, there was a fear of facing AI, especially by those who use it at home, but with the correct understanding of this advanced machine," he said. Everyone has improved the quality of his intelligence and work, and I expect the next to be better with the revolution of always evolving technology. ”
To view the statements of specialists, organizations and companies concerned with artificial intelligence during the five sessions, please click on this link.