Article: How Artificial Intelligence Is Calling the Shots at the World Cup

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The world's largest single-sport event, The World Cup of Soccer, currently underway in Qatar on the Arabian Peninsula, introduced an artificial intelligence-driven referee to all the games in the tournament for the first time. According to World Atlas, soccer boasts the largest fanbase of all sports with an estimated 3.5 billion fans worldwide. (worldatlas.com) The World Cup tournament culminates every four years with knock-out rounds that end with the top two teams playing in the final to choose the world champion. A fervent fan base from around the world powers the tournament. To put the scale of this spectacle in perspective, an estimated 3.572 billion people-- more than half the world--watched the last World Cup tournament in 2018. (fifa.com) The 2022 tournament appears just as popular.

Needless to say, the passion for the sport runs high, and errors in officiating in this low-scoring sport can reverberate for generations. For example, people still argue fifty years later about whether the third and decisive goal by England's Geoff Hurst in the 1966 World Cup final against West Germany fully crossed the goal line in overtime. With such high stakes as the world championship on the line, technology has come to the aid of referees. Today in the World Cup, a video and simulation system helps to determine if the soccer ball crosses the goal line. Each soccer stadium for the World Cup contains fourteen high-speed cameras mounted around the stadium. Images from all the cameras create a three-dimensional representation of the field and the ball. A computer continuously analyzes the ball's location and will send a signal to the referee's watch if the ball ever entirely crosses the goal line. Referees use Goal Line Technology, or GLT, and video analysis to most accurately determine if a goal has occurred.

Another important rule in soccer, "offside, " is very important in regulating how offensive players can attack the goal. The offside rule prevents offensive players from just waiting around their opponent's goal. The offside rule requires that two players from the other team must be between the offensive player and their opponent's goal line at all times unless the offensive player has the ball. What makes this rule a bit confusing is the stipulation that the offensive player can break the rule once the ball is kicked to him, allowing for exciting moments called breakaways. The offside rule says that no part of a player, be it foot, hand, knee, or anything else, can break the plane between the two defensive players and the goal before the ball gets kicked.

An offside penalty has called back many apparent goals. Because the offside rule no longer applies once a ball gets kicked to an offensive player, the interpretation can get complicated. For example, if the kick originates far from the offensive players and the referee, detecting offside can pose a complex problem. For this reason, the World Cup governing body called FIFA introduced in the 2022 tournament a semi-automated referee that uses artificial intelligence to determine if a player is offside—called Semi-Automated Offside Technology or SAOT. SAOT combines multiple AI technologies, from image analysis to human form recognition called skeletal tracking, to create a virtual offside line anywhere on the playing field that alerts the referees of an offside penalty. Additionally, the ball contains a transmitter that tells the computer where it is at any time and when it gets kicked. (fifa.com) The technology of SAOT and GLT now goes by the name Virtual Assistant Referee or VAR.

Soccer occupies the top spot in popularity worldwide as a spectator and participant sport. Over half the world watched the last World Cup in Russia in 2018. The World Cup tournament culminates in a final game between the top two teams called simply "The Final." As in any sport, referees play a crucial role in enforcing the rules. In soccer played at high speed on a large field with eleven players per side, the referees must make split-second judgments to determine if the ball has wholly crossed the goal line or if a player has broken the offside rule. With the world watching, referees have tremendous pressure to make the right call, and when they do not, people will talk about it for decades after. Advances in artificial intelligence and sensor technology make possible now VARs or robotic referees that assist human referees in making difficult calls such as offside. With SAOT and GLT assisting referees, the chance of a bad call by the referee in the latest World Cup in Qatar has dramatically diminished.

Dr. Smith’s career in scientific and information research spans the areas of bioinformatics, artificial intelligence, toxicology, and chemistry. He has published a number of peer-reviewed scientific papers. He has worked over the past seventeen years developing advanced analytics, machine learning, and knowledge management tools to enable research and support high-level decision making. Tim completed his Ph.D. in Toxicology at Cornell University and a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from the University of Washington.

You can buy his book on Amazon in paperback and in kindle format here.