The 2022 FIFA World Cup will track players' bodies using AI

FIFA, the international governing body of association football, has announced

that AI-powered cameras will be used to assist the referees during the 2022 World Cup.

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The semi-automated system uses a sensor in the ball that

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relays its location 500 times a second, and 12 tracking

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cameras mounted beneath stadium roofs that use machine learning to track 29 points in players' bodies.

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In the coming years, software will combine this information to

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generate automated alerts when players commit offside offenses

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(that is, when they are closer to the opposition's goal

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than their second-last opponent and receive the ball). An alert

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would be sent to officials in a nearby control room,

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who would then validate the decision and inform the referees on the field of the call

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It is the latest example of sports adopting automated technology

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to assist referees in making decisions. During the 2018 World Cup

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FIFA introduced VAR, or the video assistant referee, which allows

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referees to review decisions using sideline monitors.

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