Tech in Soccer

Soccer has long been played without much technological aid and influence. All that has been needed was a soccer ball, players, referees, assistant referees, cameramen to broadcast games, etc. Recent times have seen advanced technology such as goal-line technology and VAR (video assistant referee). These two technology addition has impacted the game, especially in recent competitions, some good and others bad. In the end, the technology is intended to aid in helping to assist and clear up some human decision making (referee) and make the game fairer for the teams participating in the field. 

VAR is considered an official in the game who reviews certain decisions made by the head referee during the game, this is done through video footage and communication through a headset. The instances that this system help to clear up include, mistaken identity when one is awarded a red or yellow card, penalty or no penalty situations, a goal or no goal, free kick or no free-kick decision, etc. This system was officially implemented in the game of soccer all around the league in 2018 to help clear up obvious errors. So far there have been great benefits to it as intended and a few times not so beneficial.

Goal-line technology is simply the use of a sensor (electronic aid) to help determine if a goal has been scored or not. July 2012 was when this technology was officially approved to be used in the game worldwide after an initial and second phase testing. I believe this technology has been certainly crucial to the game at the highest level. Of course, some longtime soccer fans are used to the legacy system and don’t adapt to change easily. They also feel like it takes away certain aspects to the game and slows it down. All that is wanted from this tech is better clarity with decision making as the slightest mistake made during a game at the highest level can affect the outcome so much.

One slight downside to all this tech is that I see is with the high capital involved in acquiring and using all these technologies. With this they are only typically invested in at the highest level divisions of the different country’s domestic leagues, and also major international competitions. I am all for the technology additions to help eliminate as many human errors in decision making, are you?