Intro
Digital innovations have been helping humans reach heights that we never could’ve thought of, with digital innovation really taking off in the late 1970s, when computer-aided design and manufacturing were first used in businesses. Since then, we have been using this throughout many aspects of human life, including sports, and more specifically soccer. Digital innovation has definitely has had its impact into the beautiful game, with the addition of new highly developed digital cameras. This innovation has allowed us to have a better view of how the game is played, but most importantly, give us a better advantage in the referee-ring aspect of the game. Let’s dive deeper into how digital innovation has changed this aspect of the game.
History
Soccer, also known as football, is a sport with a history of over 2,000 years. However, the history of modern soccer dates back to England in the mid-19th century, when various forms of soccer were played. The sport quickly spread throughout the British Empire and Europe, where it was adopted and modified in many countries. In 1904, the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) was created to provide standardized rules for the game and organize international competitions such as the World Cup, UEFA European Championship and the UEFA Champions League. The sport is regulated by FIFA and organized by various national and regional associations such as the English Football Association and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
Today, soccer is the most popular sport in the world, with billions of fans and participants in over 200 countries. The sport continues to evolve, and new technologies, such as video assistant referees (VAR), are being introduced to improve the accuracy of decisions and maintain the integrity of the game.
VAR
VAR, or also known as Video Assistant Referee, is a system that uses video replays to assist the on-field referees with decision making. VAR was invented in 2010, but first used in 2018/2019. With this, referees are able to “freeze time” and go back to either make a decision based on something the didn’t see, to correct an already made decision, or to get a better look before making the correct decision. Before this, referees had to make verdicts based on what they saw, in real time. Soccer can be a very fast sport at times, so referees have to make quick rulings, which can lead to error a lot. With the addition of digital innovation with cameras, we are able to go back in time and see different angles/viewpoints that can either justify or alter the referees decisions.
VAR has been in great controversy ever since it has been implemented into the game, due to it being used improperly and referees making the wrong decision even after using it. However, “the use of VAR is helpful in reducing critical errors and improving refereeing accuracy in complex and dynamic football match situations. For example, FIFA (2018) revealed that in the 2018 Men’s World Cup, the accuracy rate of refereeing decisions was 95.60% when VAR was not employed and 99.35% when VAR was used. Additionally, in a study of 13 men’s national leagues, using VAR was found to increase refereeing decision accuracy from 92.1 to 98.3%.”
Something else that really helps out is the addition of the new Hawk-Eye’s virtual offside line technology. Before, offsides in soccer would be determined by on-field referees. They make the offside ruling based on their observation of the position of the attacking player relative to the ball and the second-to-last defender (usually the last defender is the goalkeeper). If the attacking player is closer to the opponent’s goal line than both the ball and the second-to-last defender, they are in an offside position and cannot touch the ball or interfere with play. This can happen extremely fast, due to players running at full pace, and trust me, some players are too fast. Without the use of cameras and VAR, referees could make mistakes that could alter the game greatly. However, with the addition of this new technology, making these decisions just got a whole lot easier.
Many like myself like the addition of this innovation to the sport, due to making the game more fair, as it should be. However, many tend to think that VAR should stay out of the sport. Lots of people begin to question why even have on-field referees anymore if every decision made has to go under review, which has been a recent trend of events in modern day soccer. Either way, this innovation has really changed the ruling aspect of the game, and has made the game more debatable than ever.
Conclusion
In conclusion, digital innovation has really changed the way the sport of soccer is played. Before, whatever decisions were made, they were never able to be reviewed, challenged, or altered. Now, the game can be stopped for long periods of time just to evaluate actions and technicalities that occur. For me, even though I like the addition of this innovation, it has taken some of the beauty out of the game. This sport is supposed to be a continuous sport, one that doesn’t have many stoppages. Ever since VAR has been implemented, we have seen an increase in these stoppages for long periods of time, sometimes to make obvious decisions. However, it has provided the game with more fairness than it has ever had in its history;.
Nice post. I just tweeted that a common theme emerging on the blog is digital innovation in various sports and sports officiating. Might be worth discussing in class tomorrow!
Hey Agazi! Your post this week was very interesting. I don’t really watch or understand soccer that much, but I know how crazy it was this year for the World Cup. I was always curious why the game was so long and felt like it never ended. I learned a lot about soccer from your post and it’s great to see that they are able to digital innovate the game to create the VARS. I know they have created like trackers to put in the soccer ball that allows them to determine if the ball was actually out of bounds. I remember seeing all over social media about Japan’s controversial goal against Spain that they allowed. They were able to use VARS to validate it and seeing the images was cool.
Hey Agazi, I really enjoyed reading your post! As Elaine has said I do not watch soccer very often but I used to play and absolutely loved it. The use of VAR has definitely slowed the game down a bit, but I believe as technology gets better and the refs are trained more in the use of it that the gameplay will pick back up. Your post also makes me wonder if in the future there will be AI technology that will be able to assess certain teams/players and come up with a strategy to beat them. For example, if one team seems to have a weak spot in their defense that no one has seen before that maybe an AI would pick up after reviewing hours of gameplay from that team.
Hi Agazi! I had to read your post when I saw the title. I very much agree that VAR makes the game the most fair it has ever been. Although the fact that it takes away from the natural momentum and nature of the game can be very annoying at times. Should we be adding new technologies to everything, or should some things be left alone. This seems to be an important question to ask going forward.
Hey Agazi! I’m really surprised that VAR wasn’t invented until 2010. I really thought it had been around for my entire life but I guess I didn’t watch sports enough before the age of 9 to realize that they didn’t have it. It definitely does add a lot of time for review in the games though. I don’t really know anything about soccer but this is definitely an important aspect to have, especially for soccer because it is so low scoring. I’m sure in the past refs have made mistakes that led to a team winning that shouldn’t have and that’s not fair.
Hi Agazi! I learned a lot from reading your post. I agree that VAR should be a part of sports to lessen the influence that officiating can have on the result of games, but there needs to be changes to keep the games going without the frequent stops. Many people think that officiating is just part of sports and should stay, but these changes would make the games more fair and truly allow the best team to win. Overall, I really enjoyed your post!
As a fan of soccer myself, thank you for making this post Agazi! I completely agree with the impact of digital innovation within the game. VAR has certainly made it’s impact on the game and especially when it comes to refereeing. I think I’ll always miss the times of human error. However, as a Barcelona fan, I wish we had this heavy presence of VAR whenever Real Madrid accomplished the 3 peat of the Champions League. VAR has increased the accuracy of decisions and this makes the sport more fair. Some may deny this following the World Cup though with Argentina receiving a penalty for everything. (Argentina fan as well so I have no issue with them receiving all the calls in their favor!). I agree that VAR has taken some beauty of the game. Game has slowed down some to allow for VAR reviews and goals are called back a lot more due to offsides (Wish this happened in Bayern v. Real Madrid 2017). Having said that, I believe the benefits of VAR far surpass the drawbacks of it
Hi Agazi! Great post! I had no idea that VAR’s existed, but it’s really neat that they do. I could not imagine having to try to recall what you just saw in a stadium full of loud fans and angry coaches/players. It’s surprising to hear how some people don’t like the use of VAR. I personally feel like it helps more than harms by making the game fair, but I’m also not a huge sports fan so take what I say with a grain of salt! It’ll be interesting to see what other technologies may disrupt the sports industry. Will there be a need for referees in the future?
Great post, Agazi! I have recently done my own exploring of the type of technology used in various sports in order to improve playcalling and VAR is by far the most interesting technology. From a referee’s perspective, it is definitely beneficial to have this technology applied to games because it adds another layer of validity to certain calls. It might also help with game management and spare the officials from the wrath of coaches and players that do not disagree with the call because “the proof is in the pudding”, so to speak. The arguments I have seen about the VAR claim that it is taking the human aspect out of the game and slows the progression of the game down significantly. In this case, it is just something that you have to deal with as a team in order to get the benefits of the technology. Another way to minimize the stoppage of the flow of the game is to embed the rules of engagement with the technology within the game of soccer itself.
Hey Agazi! You have made such an interesting post. I myself am a soccer fan so I really enjoyed reading this blog. I 100% agree that VAR’s are extremely helpful when it comes to soccer matches. Having this technology in any sport (especially soccer) helps refs decide whether or not to call the right penalty or not. It definitely is a second-hand for the refs. Also, now thinking about it, I didn’t know that the VARs have been recently invented; I wonder how this would have affected soccer games in the past, way before they were invented.
Hey Agazi, this was a great post! I have been trying to convey to my friends that VAR will make the world of sports, especially soccer fair. Human bias is present in all sports, some more than others but soccer is one of those examples where faults on the referees end can completely change the game. I believe that VAR can be innovated even more and be integrated into other sports such as tennis and hockey. Although, there are a few cons to this invention such as prolonged time, I believe the benefits outweigh.