Technology Is Changing The Face Of Soccer—And Why Tech Leaders Should Be Paying Attention

Sal Paju , president and CTO of Naztec International Group, is a technology leader with over 35 years of experience and 19 patents.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is truly an international event that has broken the hearts of many. For four exciting weeks, spectators from all over the world will gather to cheer on their national teams. But one thing - the thing this whole show hinged on - didn't live up to the hype it deserved - mediocre football.

Surprisingly, most people don't seem too interested in the spherical objects around which the entire game is built. In fact, the modern soccer ball is more than a few pieces of air-filled polyurethane; This Qatar 2022 'flying' football, which was unveiled during the FIFA World Cup, is a great example of modern technology.

I was fascinated by the application of this technology perhaps playing barefoot football in a small village in India where I come from. After years and countless struggles, I lead an innovation team in a company that specializes in the development of new technologies with artificial intelligence, robotics and drone technology. Not only as a long-time football fan, but also as a CTO of a technology company, I believe that these new developments have applications in many fields. In my opinion, every entrepreneur or business leader can learn important lessons from the latest trends, especially when it comes to thinking outside the box and always striving to improve, whether on the football field or elsewhere.

Connected energy technology

Although cue balls are integrated with sensors before flight, the adoption of this technology at the World Cup was a revolutionary step. The center of the ball "includes and stabilizes a 500 Hz Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) motion sensor," explains the ball's manufacturer, Adidas. Capable of transmitting data 500 times per second, this sensor provides a highly detailed snapshot of ball movement throughout the game.

Technology in Context: Qatar 2022

Connected ball technology is promising and exciting, but does it affect gameplay? Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo can speak for himself. In the year In the match between Portugal and Uruguay on November 28, 2022, Ronaldo admitted that he touched the ball when Portugal scored the first goal. However, the sensors in the plane failed to detect Ronaldo's touch. It was his teammate Bruno Fernandez who delivered the ball.

It may not be watershed to see which players from the same team score goals, but it is an example of the practicality of technology on the field. A similar application, albeit somewhat controversial, was the video refereeing system that played a role in deciding several matches at the last World Cup.

It will be interesting to see how these two technologies - and who knows how many more will emerge - integrate and process data together, making tagging (and the human error that comes with it) a thing of the past.

What will happen in the future?

So where will these changes take football in the future? Health and performance improvements came first, followed by systematic and systematic improvements in protective equipment and sportswear, wearable fitness trackers, virtual reality training simulators and advanced training programs. I also imagine that with advanced technology and artificial intelligence, in the future soccer referees will have mini hand-held devices that provide decision support regarding fouls, offsides and other important information.

Technology is being used to improve the way sports are viewed locally and on television. This can include things like virtual and/or augmented reality broadcasts, 360-degree camera angles, and interactive graphics. In the near future, I hope to launch a subscription-based augmented reality service that uses 360-degree virtual sports environments to bring this experience into the home of viewers. Consider the Pokemon Go app, where users can mix the game with the real world. When applied to sports, this means that GPS technology and artificial intelligence can create augmented reality where spectators and players interact as real characters in real locations.

For that, technology leaders must be open to future needs. A virtual playground where you can practice games with thousands of other people in real time may seem like a science fiction scenario now, but business leaders must always remind themselves that they live in an ever-changing world of technology, fueled by the minds of young innovators. People.. People.

What does this mean for technology leaders?

It's nice to talk about the future, but in my view, all these developments - and their implications - may be imminent. Entrepreneurs and technology executives are guaranteed to face many challenges when adopting new technologies, and it is not always easy to assess whether there are untouched and new fields of growth opportunities.

However, almost every major industry has great potential for technological advancement. Leaders must be committed and visionary to overcome challenges and capitalize on those opportunities. To maintain that focus, it's important to examine what worked and what didn't with each experiment, to learn more with each failure (and there will be many). It took more than two years to implement the innovation of broadcasting interpretation in a foreign language, but in the end it was a success story.

A multifaceted leader who spans multiple fields must embrace integrated ideas that can yield revolutionary ideas for improving the world we live in—even small pieces that improve one aspect at a time. An idea that seems fantastic and unrealistic at first is often the most surprising pioneer in a field.

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