worldcup foot ball

SIX TECHNOLOGIES USING  IN 

FOOT BALL  WORLD CUP 2014

Technological innovation can be as big a boon for sports as it can be for cheering fans. And the FIFA World Cup this year is all set to improve the football experience like never before.

GOAL LINE

It’s not clear that smart watches will ever make the leap from the tech hype cycle to the real world, but the devices will get at least one highly visible cameo on a particularly big stage. Referees at the World Cup this year will wear watches that will vibrate and display the word “GOAL” each time a ball crosses the goal line.FIFA has been discussing goal-line technology since the months following the 2010World Cup. That tournament saw England denied a score in a match against Germany even though the ball had clearly passed the goal line.

         

FIFA began testing goal-line technology and approved its use in 2012. Most sports with a long tradition inspire a Luddite streak, and soccer is no different, so the move introducing monitoring of the goal line has been deliberate. The device can be used only to determine if the ball has crossed the line, and referees must be notified within one second. Only match officials can receive these scoring notifications.

Vanishing foam

In a bid to prevent teams from illegally gaining ground at free-kicks, referees at the tournament will be armed with small canisters of vanishing foam. The biodegradable white substance will be sprayed on the pitch to mark where free-kicks should be taken from and the 10-yard distance that the opposition's defensive wall must observe. Known as Aero Comex Futline, the substance dissolves within a minute. "Players respect it," says Australian referee Ben Williams. "It's a great innovation and I'm looking forward to using it."

The 'Twitterwall'

The German Football Federation (DFB) has installed a specially designed 'Twitterwall' at the Germany team's hotel near Porto Seguro in the eastern Brazilian state of Bahia. Using the hashtag #aneurerseite (#onyourside), supporters can send picture messages encouraging the team that will be displayed on the wall for the players to see. A similar idea was used at Frankfurt airport before the squad flew out to Brazil.

WhatsApp

Uruguay's players have been keeping in touch with each other prior to the tournament by using the WhatsApp instant messaging service on their smartphones. Striker Edinson Cavani revealed that he and his team-mates used the app to share their thoughts on the World Cup draw, which saw the South American champions paired with England, Italy and Costa Rica. "It was a bit like 'Oh, Italy! Oh, England!'" Cavani told Britain's FourFourTwo magazine. "That messaging group is great for keeping us in contact because we're playing all around the world and we can support each other. In that moment, it went crazy!"

Ultra High Definition television

The 2014 World Cup will be the first tournament to be partly captured in Ultra High Definition (UHD), which boasts a resolution approximately four times higher than conventional High Definition television and requires a satellite network capable of handling 100 megabits of data per second. The tournament is seen as a trial run for the technology, which is not yet widely available.

iPads

England's players have each been equipped with iPads containing personalised information about their group-stage opponents. The Football Association has designed a scouting app that allows Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and their team-mates to access personal data and video footage of the specific opponents they will come up against at the tournament. England have also been using heat chambers and wearing extra layers of clothing in training in a bid to replicate the humid conditions in the Amazonian city of Manaus, where they will play Italy on Saturday. "We've made progress," said midfielder James Milner. "We haven't left any stone unturned, and our preparation has been very good."