As FIFA World Cup 2014 kicks off, Lets take a look at what makes FIFA 2014 the most hi-tech football event so far in history.
Goal-line technology will be used at FIFA World Cup matches for the first time in Brazil to avoid the referees’ misjudgment on controversial kicks at goal. The 2010 World Cup was a catalyst to introduce the technology after England were wrongly denied a goal, when the ball clearly crossed the line, in their Round 16 tie against Germany.
German company Goal Control’s technology features high-speed video cameras and a special watch worn by match officials. GoalControl’s system works with a set of 14 cameras, with seven arrayed in a semicircle on the catwalks above, watching each goal.
The cameras capture up to 500 frames per second from multiple vantage points to track the continuous position of the ball within a centimeter or so. If it crosses the goal line, a digital watch worn by the referee, his two linesmen and the fourth official at midfield, indicates that a goal should be awarded.
‘Our main feeling is anticipation,” Dirk Broichhausen, managing director of GoalControl, told The Associated Press. ”The technology is mature and we are absolutely convinced of the system’s reliability. The World Cup is the biggest chance to showcase in football – it will put goal-line technology worldwide in the center of interest.’
With vanishing spray also being used to prevent encroachment by defenders making up a wall during free kicks, officials at the highest level of the world’s most popular sport are finally getting some assistance.
The second thing that is making it’s debut at FIFA 2014 is Brazuca, the official ball of FIFA 2014. Adidas has been the FIFA World Cup Official Match Ball supplier since 1970. But this year it has outdone itself, touting the Brazuca its most advanced Adidas World Cup Ball yet.
Adidas claims the ball evolved from a two-and-half-year testing program. This year, over 600 professional players and 30 teams in 10 countries across three continents have tested the Brazuca. Flaunting a new six-panel design, the ball has received high marks for its speed and accuracy.
Brazuca is not ‘just another ball’, It has its own Twitter account. And it will be tweeting updates during all of the World Cup matches. “I’m @brazuca. The official match ball of the 2014 FIFA #WorldCup. I tweet in English & Portuguese. Love me or lose me! Oh, and follow me,” it’s bio reads.
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