Digital and football. How technology has put itself at the service of football

We will live in an increasingly interconnected world, the screen will replace physical encounters, machines will take the place of men and, very soon, the human being will become an amoeba. A decidedly very tragicomic vision and, for now, completely misleading. Technology has allowed man to make giant steps in the scientific and pharmaceutical fields, allowing us to find cures for diseases that, until a few decades ago, were practically incurable. Then, however, we must also underline the negative role of progress, but that's another story.

Even in football in any country, in Europe, in America, in Brazil or in Africa wherever technology has had its say. Refereeing a football match has become much easier thanks to devices and apps which the technicians have at their disposal at each meeting.

The VAR revolution

This is the most innovative and recent system, which has arrived in Europe in the last five years. VAR has literally changed the cards on the table by putting, or at least trying to put, an end to all the football scandals related to the buying and selling of referees and match officials. It is not new, in fact, that even at the lowest levels of football categories, there are referees who are, so to speak, “biased”. With this undeniable and objective system, arbitration should become much more sincere. But how does VAR work?

In short, VAR is nothing more than a match recording system with cameras placed at strategic points on the pitch. Match officials will be at the referee's complete disposal whenever doubts arise regarding a decision to be made. Whether it concerns a foul, a penalty, a throw-in or an offside, VAR will intervene by showing a detailed recording of the incident. The system is very similar to TMO.

There are some differences, however. The TMO, or slow motion recording of the action, can only be requested by the referee while the VAR technicians are the ones who stop the game by interrupting the action. In short, the VAR has a much more invasive role within the game action and, at times, could even prove to be useless and damaging for the action of the team in possession of the ball.

Goal Line Tech Control

This system is absolutely efficient and highly technological. Just think about the fact that the actual goal registration score reaches the referee's wrist sensor in less than a second. But how does this system work? What does Goal Line Tech actually consist of? This system is based on the codependent work of 14 cameras. 7 of these monitor the activities of one goal, 7 monitor the activity of the other. These sensors are spread across the field and on the goal in such a way that, at the end, a three-dimensional image of the ball converges.

Once the image of the ball has been created in the central computer, its position on the soccer field will be verified. We will then see whether it will cross the goal line or not. In this way, it will be impossible to make any more mistakes regarding the phenomena of the so-called “ghost goals”.