Racist supporters soon spotted thanks to artificial intelligence?
In the Netherlands, pilot projects testing the use of smart technology against discrimination and racism at the stadium have been launched at three top division clubs, the Dutch football federation (KNVB) announced on Wednesday.
Met als doel discriminerende spreekkoren in stadions te bestrijden, is een pilot van start gegaan met slimme technologie.
Na een jaar moet blijken of dit bijdraagt aan de huidige maatregelen van Ons Voetbal Is Van Iedereen.
more info.
⤵https://t.co/cWpYCn4dOI
— KNVB (@KNVB) June 8, 2022
Three projects are underway at the Feyenoord (Rotterdam), PSV (Eindhoven) and PEC (Zwolle) stadiums, and a fourth could be launched this year, the KNVB said in a statement.
Until now, "video images available in combination with sound recordings have too often failed as evidence" of discrimination, noted the Dutch federation.
“Racist” comments potentially identified
"After a year, it should be clear if and how this smart technology supports the identification of racism and discrimination and/or contributes to the identification of those involved," she added.
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PSV, for example, is testing the use of sound cameras in the stadium to measure and localize the commitment and enthusiasm of supporters, who could also, thanks to artificial intelligence, simultaneously detect "abnormal" sound, such as a racist comment, which could be listened to live or delayed and encourage action if necessary.
Real-time information to ensure safety
At PEC Zwolle in the east of the country, visitors can now get to matches with their tickets on their mobile phones, accessible via a mobile app that can give fans real-time information on security conditions around the stadium.
“Other techniques, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, will also be used to improve (…) social security in the stadium,” the KNVB said.
The pilot projects are co-financed by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports, which has injected more than one million euros.
It is part of a larger plan called 'our football belongs to everyone', put in place after the racist treatment at the end of 2019 by FC Den Bosch supporters of former Excelsior player Ahmad Mendes Moreira, who ran away from the pitch crying.
With these projects, "we are taking a new step in the fight against discrimination", welcomed Marianne van Leeuwen, director of professional football at the KNVB, quoted in the press release.
A study of some 118 professional footballers, many of whom played in the honor division, found that 40% had experienced racism and other forms of discrimination, the daily Algemeen Dagblad reported last year.