World Cup revolution: Why the balls now have to be plugged in before the game

Created: 12/01/2022 15:51

By: Marius Epp

The World Cup in Qatar is also a World Cup of technical innovations.

Here we explain why the balls have to be charged with electricity before the game.

Doha - The times when just 22 people kicked a ball are long gone.

Since the 2022 World Cup, the times when the round leather was just a round leather are over.

Football is becoming more technologically advanced.

After the introduction of the video assistant, it now also affects the gaming device as such.

Not for the first time: the "chip in the ball" as part of goal-line technology has been around for a long time.

Recently, the ball itself can be called an electronic device.

World Cup 2022: Balls must be loaded before the game

Because: Before the game, the balls have to be connected to the power grid.

The reason is a new system that should recognize offside situations.

Even with the video assistant, wrong decisions had repeatedly been made in the past.

The “semi-automatic offside detection” is used in all World Cup games (2022 World Cup schedule).

It works like this: Inside the ball there is a transmitter with a tiny battery that needs to be charged before the game.

Together with twelve cameras around the field, the position of the ball and the player is recorded up to 50 times per second.

In this way, the moment the ball is released can be precisely recorded.

World Cup balls plugged into the socket: a bizarre-looking photo.

© Twitter/Joe Pompliano

World Cup 2022: FIFA wants faster and better decisions with new offside technology

Pierluigi Collina, FIFA Chief Referee, said: "We are aware that it sometimes takes too long to review possible offside situations, especially when the offside decision is very close.

This is where semi-automated offside technology can help to make faster and more accurate decisions.”

So far, offside checks would take around 70 seconds, with the new system you can reduce it to around 25 seconds.

The fans in the stadium should be informed about the decisions via video screens.

"We want accurate decisions," says Collina.

Football World Cup: All world champions from 1930 to 2018

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Less technological, but no less interesting, is the prediction of a "time traveler" who reveals who will be world champion.

He was already correct at the EM 2021.