Will technology perfect or ruin modern football?

6

October

2019

5/5 (1)

The video-assistant referee (VAR) has made his entry in to all the big leagues and international football tournaments. After pilots in smaller countries and cup tournaments football officials deemed the technology fault proof and valuable to current football. Some countries even added an extensive offside recognition system. It uses automatic calibration, line tracking and multi-dimensional analysis to diagnose offside on the centimetre (FIFA, 2018)
Technology has some clear opportunities and advantages to offer to football. Firstly, new imaging and camera techniques offer a completely new and real-life experience. Furthermore, the VAR makes the game indisputably fairer (Webb, 2019). Referee decisions in football are extremely important since many games are decided and dependent on moments. Since football became a sport of billions, technology could help relief pressure on referees and linesman. Before the full introduction of the VAR there was another technology that improved game fairness, the Hawkeye goal line technology. Using live video content and imaging techniques an assessment is made on whether the ball passed the goal line in its full. If so, an automatic message is sent to a connected smartwatch of the referee (Hawkeye Innovations, 2019). A final example of opportunity by technology is the use of chips and data to analyse football matches and player performances. Currently, data is used to inform decision making via staff that analyses match and player data (Rein & Memmert, 2016). This could be expanded with artificial intelligence, and in particular machine learning. Optimisation modelling based on big data could help with tactical planning and also training and fitness scheduling (Rein & Memmert, 2016)
Nonetheless, the rising of technology in football also has its downsides and thereby impacting the core value proposition of football. Football is essentially an entertainment sport and therefore the fans are key for survival. The improvement of the experience at home leads to a weaker desire to go to the stadium (Webb, 2019). Additionally, the VAR has been received with much complaint and discussion by fans and other stakeholders. First of all, it makes the game less attractive since the ecstasy of scoring a goal can be quickly followed by disappointment after VAR interference. Secondly, fans do not see the footage of VAR incidents in the stadium and are left in the dark, compared to the people at home. Another much discussed challenge is that technologies such as the VAR or Hawkeye undermine the power, control, and the respect referees and linesman have. Every wrong decision is corrected in front of the audience and the players (Fransen, 2018).
One thing that is clear is that much emotion and intuition is neutralised by technology. This perhaps improves the fairness of the game, but potentially decreases the amusement value. This development is not very likely to slow down anytime soon. Robotic linesman and potentially even referees do seem a possibility in the future (Livesey, 2018). The question is if technology will initiate the deterioration of football or that it will be perfectly applied and halted where necessary to maintain entertainment value.


References
FIFA. (2018, May 13). The Virtual Offside Line. Retrieved from FIFA Football Technology: https://football-technology.fifa.com/en/media-tiles/the-virtual-offside-line/
Fransen, J. (2018, July 10). How video assistant referees could undermine on-field referees at the FIFA World Cup. Retrieved from The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/how-video-assistant-referees-could-undermine-on-field-referees-at-the-fifa-world-cup-98466
Hawkeye Innovations. (2019, February 20). Hawkeye in Football. Retrieved from Hawkeye Innovations: https://www.hawkeyeinnovations.com/sports/football
Livesey, J. (2018, February 16). Robot football referees and linesmen could be a reality by 2030 with humanoid players not far behind. Retrieved from Mirror: https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/robot-football-referees-linesmen-could-12030671
Rein, R., & Memmert, D. (2016). Big data and tactical analysis in elite soccer: future challenges and opportunities for sports science. SpringerPlus, 5(1), 1-13.
Webb, T. (2019, August 19). Goal! Or is it? How technology – and not just VAR – is changing sport. Retrieved from The Conversation: http://theconversation.com/goal-or-is-it-how-technology-and-not-just-var-is-changing-sport-121838

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Will blockchain voting cause countries to follow Estonia?

16

September

2019

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Voting has always been a centralised process in the hands of those who depend on it. In developing countries in South America and Africa this has often led to questionable governmental behaviour. These countries might benefit most beyond saving cost or manual labour. In most countries human beings must count votes manually, which makes the cost per voter substantially high (UK 8.66 pounds) (Kelly, 2013). External influences such as the Russian influence in the 2016 US election are a danger to election security. Blockchain might be the answer to all these sorrows.

Many different Blockchain companies have produced and suggested online voting systems. Follow My Vote, for example, created an online voting booth. You register with the required documents in the region applicable. Votes are submitted in a blockchain based ballot box. One even has the option to change this vote, right until the deadline (Follow My Vote, 2017).

Many countries are currently testing and doing pilot runs, nonetheless, only few countries or regions applied the blockchain voting system in their societies. There are still too many ways in which the process could be compromised. Blockchain voting assumes that there is no malware on an end-user’s digital device. Furthermore, if it were to be hacked, everyone’s vote would be public. Experts also warn for the large population that will be online via these systems, they believe blockchain is not solid enough for this amount of online traffic (Mearian, 2019). They believe that paper voting is still the only proper way, since an attack can only target one vote, and blockchain offers the possibility to reach and entire population.

Despite these issues blockchain or other forms of internet voting will make their entry someday. It will boost democratic fundamentals such as participation. For instance, groups like overseas militaries will have the opportunity to also vote.

Estonia has been using online voting systems since 2005. Via digital ID’s Estonians could vote for local government elections, and later also the parliamentary elections. Does this prove that it works? Or does it merely mean that Estonian elections is somewhat less interesting for hackers and people seeking influence than for example the US? The same system was also used in the Utah 2016 republican party caucus. Voters from over 45 countries, including Japan and South-Africa, participated (Mearian, 2019). Are fundamental changes to blockchain and internet processes needed, or do we take a leap like Estonia?

References

Follow My Vote, 2017. Blockchain Voting: The End To End Process. [Online]
Available at: https://followmyvote.com/blockchain-voting-the-end-to-end-process/
[Accessed 14 September 2019].
Kelly, S., 2013. Voting using blockchain and smart contracts. [Online]
Available at: https://medium.com/swlh/voting-using-blockchain-and-smart-contractsd-8a277892732f
[Accessed 2019 September 15].
Mearian, L., 2019. Why blockchain-based voting could threaten democracy. [Online]
Available at: https://www.computerworld.com/article/3430697/why-blockchain-could-be-a-threat-to-democracy.html
[Accessed 15 September 2019].

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