Sports is a very contradictory thing. On one side, it revolutionizes the way we look at things and opens the doors to many modern inventions. But the flip side is that it's so hard to convince the fans that these changes will do good for the game. Most of them believe that technology ruins the spirit of the competition. They also argue over referee mistakes at every match, which makes the situation even more ironic.
Whether we want it or not, different improvements are here to stay. We can debate how helpful they are, and in the future, we will replace some with even more advanced. But the fact is that we need technology to make our lives (and sports) better. For example, what would we do if all the sports news and betting sites weren't collected here in one place? So here are top innovations that changed the way we look at our favorite competitions.
VAR
Video assistant referee, or VAR for short, is a system that football federations implement to make the sport mistake-free. The head referee team works in the field, and they gain support from the VAR room. A group of other judges sits there and watches the game live from every camera and angle possible. They check each controversial situation and find footage of the moment if they think the head referee made a mistake.
VAR can change the decision of the head referee only in some conditions.
- The offense was too severe, and the player deserves a red card instead of a yellow.
- There was an offside or foul when the opponent scored a goal, and the linesman didn't raise the flag.
- There might be a penalty: VAR checks footage for a handball or foul and makes sure that there was no offense or offside before that.
The state technology shows these days it mainly saves referees from making obvious mistakes.
Hawk-Eye
We would never know what might've happened if referees awarded Lampard's goal against Germany in 2010. But thanks to Hawk-Eye, originally developed and used at tennis, it's hard to believe that such a ridiculous moment can happen again.
The creators of technology don't give much information on how the system exactly works, but it wasn't hard to find some basic data. It was built based on motion capture ideas, uses a couple of cameras to track the ball, develop its trajectory and make a 3D model of the moment it hits the ground (for tennis) or crosses the goal line (for football). As a result, the system is a reliable source of information that helps referees to make correct decisions rapidly during a match.
Television
Let's change the spotlight from the game itself to a grander scheme. When some of the changes impacted "quality of life," TV influenced sports globally. Fans worldwide got the opportunity to watch the games of their favorite local club from the comfort of their homes. Later, possibilities grew, and people realized how good the teams in other countries were thanks to the cable.
TV became a window to the lives of the athletes when the internet didn't even exist, with different talk shows and documentaries for everyone's liking. In the smartphone era, our old pal becomes less and less attractive but still respected and usable at match-day.
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