A UK-based AI tech company has expressed its enthusiasm about the successful presentation of their new AI Referee model to FIFA top representatives, paving a way to help match officials make better on-field decisions on matchday basis.
FutballAI announced this development on their official X formerly Twitter handle, expressing their goal to improve how football officiating is managed across all football professional competitions with their cutting edge tech.
The AI model called 5th Official was presented to selected FIFA reps in Switzerland last week Tuesday, June 25, 2024.
According to many sources, the presentation had been well received as it is believed that the AI model has the necessary features to help referees and their assistants make better and more accurate decisions on the field of play.
We are going to be discussing the features and how it can make match officials unnecessary in the next decade with some improvement. The AI model is said to be leading the course to improve the reputation of match officials among football fans, and FIFA is said to be leaning towards the possibility of its adoption.
AI has seen rapid and unprecedented growth since 2021 when ChatGBT was first released to the general public with massive companies like Meta, Google, Tesla, and Microsoft investing hundreds of billions to create their own models.
This has also climaxed to the point that Nvidia, a chip designing company in the US became the most valuable company in the world based on market capitalization, overtaking the likes of Amazon, Google and Microsoft. But there is also a dark side to AI in terms of taking jobs away from people, and it might just be possible that FIFA referee’s are the next on the chopping block.
Football associations have been receptive to adopting different on-field technologies to improve football as a sport for the fans around the world. The most notable tech evolution adopted on the football pitch in recent years are probably Goal line technology, VAR and offside detecting system first used in the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar.
So FIFA adopting AI like the 5th Official would not be a strange phenomenon in the grand scheme of things. But it does pose a pressing question to how football fans around the world would receive this new tech invasion into football.
Despite its popular adoption and perceived inevitability, a lot of football fans believe that VAR has done more harm than good to the great game of football, especially when it comes to the excitement football used to bring to fans before its adoption.
But how would they feel about a machine being responsible for most of a match official’s decisions?
According to different sources, 5th Official would be integrated as a wristwatch that would be worn by all the 4 match officials. It would also be integrated into the communication system of match officials so that 5th Official can give verbal feedback based on different regulations.
This system would also be connected to 25 different sensory cameras on the pitch, serving as the eyes of the AI model, giving it the ability to analyse different events on the pitch based on over a billion data variables, including offside, fouls and even handballs. 22 cameras would be assigned to each player on the field, while 3 would be assigned to the ball in play.
Features of the AI Referee model
The 5th Official would be able to detect, analyse and calculate how severe a tackle is in an event of a foul, including the point of contact. The system would send the information to the referee’s watch, along with a recommendation of disciplinary actions which could include a fair warning, a yellow card, a second yellow and a direct red card.
While the AI model makes recommendations based on calculations, the ultimate decision is left to the referees to make based on instincts or subjective analysis. This feature can also detect stimulation (diving) or time-wasting when a player tries to fake injuries so as to get the medical team on the field.
However, the feature does not take into account fouls that include pulling. When a player pulls another player, 5th Official would not be able to detect it or give disciplinary recommendations, however, it might only be a matter of time as the feature could be developed in a few years time.
One of the core features, and probably a game-changer for the AI model is the ability to detect handballs, but more importantly, differentiate between the ball hitting the hand in its natural position or otherwise. Of course, handballs that are committed when the hand is not in its natural position would be given as foul, while the other scenario would be ignored. This could solve a lot of inconsistencies in terms of awarding handball in football which has been on the rise in recent years, even with VAR.
It is also said that 5th Official is line sensitive. That means it could detect actions based on the different lines on the field. It can detect when the ball has gone out of play or crossed the goal line, and even detect if a foul has been committed in or outside the penalty area.
For instance, this system could have given Arsenal the Premier League league title as it might have ruled out the goal Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon scored against Arsenal at St. James Park. From the many footage of the incident available, many football fans believed the ball had gone out of play before the goal was scored, but the referee and VAR awarded the goal.
Of course, based on these features, the AI model is more than capable of giving free kicks, corners, offside, throw-ins, goal kicks and even more importantly penalties. These features are designed to male referees make more accurate decisions. However, the AI model cannot detect or give recommendations based on the player who had the last touch before the ball goes out of play. That means if a goal kick should have been awarded instead of a corner kick, 5th Official would not be able to detect it or help the match officials make the right decision. This feature can also be developed in the near future.
Even though the ultimate decision on the field of play rests on the referee’s shoulders, football fans would have unlimited access to each information and recommendation the AI model gives referees on the field. To promote transparency, and perhaps win the validation of football fans, this information would be made available to everyone through a website and an app.
That means if the 5th Official recommends a penalty, and Anthony Taylor or Micheal Oliver does not give it, everyone would know that when they check the website. This could lead to a lot of scandals that might either increase or decrease the excitement football brings to its billions of fans around the world.
According to estimates, this technology could be adopted by FIFA in the next two years, and it might even make its debut in the 2030 FIFA Men’s World Cup. Based on projections on improving the 5th Official, it could be so efficient that it would render referees and assistant referees obsolete by 2034.
But it’s early adoption would make VAR a decorative toy that would become a thing of the past in less than 4 years. Do you think AI would replace football match officials? Would football fans miss referees when they are gone from football? What would be the financial repercussion on football in general when it is officially adopted?
Let us know what you think below.
