Technology makes soccer games intelligent

Soccer ball bladders for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games are manufactured in a workshop of Dingqi Sports Goods (Huai'an) Co., Ltd. in east China's Jiangsu province, July 18, 2024. (People's Daily Online/Wang Hao)

In a recent international soccer match, the referee awarded a penalty kick for a handball in the penalty area. However, spectators noticed no change in the ball's trajectory, and even high-speed camera replays failed to show any foul play by the defensive player. So what was the basis for the referee's decision?

The ruling hinged on the application of a "connected smart soccer" technology. Technical analysis showed that sensors embedded within the ball detected vibrational waves, confirming hand contact from the defensive player.

The technology serves as a valuable tool for the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system. When there are disputed calls, the smart sensors inside the ball can instantly relay what actually happened on the field, making referee decisions more reliable and easier to verify.

It is reported that many international soccer tournaments use high-tech ball bladders manufactured by Dingqi Sports Goods (Huai'an) Co., Ltd. in east China's Jiangsu province. As a processing and trading enterprise specializing in the production of soccer, volleyball, basketball, and rugby ball bladders, the company pioneered the use of embedded chips in 2022.

"We've built a stable suspension system at the center of the ball with an embedded sensor containing a microchip. The sensor must be extremely secure to accurately capture data even during high-speed movements," said Zhou Hongda, chairman of the company.

While installing a chip in a soccer ball might sound simple, the implementation poses significant challenges. The chip must be suspended exactly at the ball's center without shifting its physical center of gravity; the total weight of the ball after sensor installation must not exceed FIFA's official standards; and the chip must continue functioning normally after violent impacts. Zhou revealed that it took the company three years to overcome these technical hurdles.

Today, the "connected smart soccer" technology is being adopted in an increasing number of international soccer tournaments. "With events like the UEFA European Championship taking place, ball product exports have surged. In the first nine months of this year, we've exported over 6 million match and training balls," Zhou said.

These increasingly intelligent soccer balls are making competitions more exciting than ever. "The smart soccer technology acts as a data collection terminal which, when combined with athletes' wearable devices, can gather rich performance data," said Pu Zhiqiang, a researcher at the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

According to Pu, the institute has developed an intelligent soccer match analysis system that can be applied to various scenarios, including pass probability prediction and off-ball movement analysis.

Tournaments such as the Zhejiang youth soccer championship have adopted intelligent match analysis systems, using quantifiable and more science-based methods to help improve player performance and assist coaches with tactical planning.