AI-Enhanced System to Track Players for Offside Calls at 2022 World Cup

pcmag.com:

Offside calls are notoriously controversial, sometimes resulting in nullified goals and irate players and coaches. Meanwhile, the line referee stands straight up with their flag in the air, unwavering in their confidence in the call.

It’s a familiar scene that can add some much-needed drama to a long match, but a bad offside call ultimately harms the players, coaches, fans, and the integrity of the game.

That’s why the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has announced(Opens in a new window) a new technology intended to assist referees in making offside calls. The system has already been tested at the 2021 Arab Cup and the 2021 Club World Cup, and it's now ready(Opens in a new window) for the World Cup.

Using a suite of cameras and artificial intelligence, the tech will determine if a player is offside. First, 12 cameras mounted underneath the stadium roof will track the location of each player during the game by capturing 29 body position data points, 50 times per second. Meanwhile, a sensor inside the official World Cup ball(Opens in a new window) will track the ball’s position.

It continuously reviews the data, looking for instances where a player is offside—broadly defined as when they are closer to their opponent's goal than the second-last defender at the time the ball is played. If this occurs, it generates an alert. Then, a team of referees—read: humans—in a video room review the decision and notify the field official.

“It’s called semi-automated because the final decision is still made by a referee,” says(Opens in a new window) Pierluigi Collina, Chairman of FIFA’s referee committee. “Our goal is to prepare the referee to avoid needing to use the technology, but even the best referee can make