Arab Cup: “FIFA” adopts new automated technology to detect intrusion

The International Football Association (FIFA) announced that the Arab Cup, which kicks off Tuesday (30/11) in Qatar, will witness a test of a new "semi-automated" technology to detect cases of intrusion, in preparation for its possible use at the end of next year in the 2022 World Cup hosted by the Gulf state.

The technology aims to increase reliability and speed up intrusion detection, and has previously been tested "in Germany, Spain and England" but has been waiting for its debut in a full tournament, according to Johannes Holtzmuller, FIFA's chief innovation officer.

The technology has been called "semi-automatic" because the final decision on whether or not offside is ultimately left to the VAR, unlike goal-line technology, which strictly determines that the ball crosses the line.

The new technology relies on cameras in the roof of the stadium, numbering between 10 and 12, to follow the players and help the referees estimate two crucial points: the moment when the ball is passed or touched, and the location of each part of the players’ bodies concerned based on the imaginary offside line.

The data collected will be transmitted, in almost real time, to the VAR cell, and the final decision is always the responsibility of the referee himself, as stressed by the International Federation of the Game.

"The decision is made after analyzing not only the position of the players, but also their participation in the movement. Technology, whether today or tomorrow, can draw a line but assess the interference in The game or with the opponent remains in the hands of the referee.

And if the tests prove to be conclusive, there is a tendency to use this technology during the Qatar World Cup, scheduled between November 21 and December 18, 2022, as suggested last month by Frenchman Arsene Wenger, who is the director of football development at FIFA.

The Arab Cup, whose matches are distributed over six stadiums with the participation of 16 teams, and will continue until December 18, is an important rehearsal to test this technology, which is based on 29 points on the player’s body and its data sent to “VAR” is only half a second behind from the actual time.

If the experiment proves successful, it is likely that it will be approved for use in the 2022 World Cup during the annual meeting of the FIFA Council next March.

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