Euro 2024 raises the curtain this Friday in Munich with Germany-Scotland (9:00 p.m.) and a new ball intended to untangle the confusion that so-called modern football has generated with the continuous change in regulations on hand signaling and video refereeing ( VAR). Fusballliebe (love of football), this is the name of the new ball designed by Adidas that includes inside a chip and a gyroscope that helps detect the exact point and moment in which the ball first hits any part of the player’s body. The referee will be the one to make the final decision, but UEFA is convinced that it will be a decisive tool to guide the referees.
The technology will also be able to better determine offside by recording data 500 times per second to record the exact instant a player makes a pass, facilitating greater accuracy in determining offside. The information will be complemented with 3D technology that is applied in automatic offside and detects the extremities of the body to draw the lines.
The ball was presented on November 15. “The new technology will allow us to see each element of the ball’s movement and will be useful in video referee decisions,” UEFA said in a statement released by the German multinational sports equipment company. It remains to be seen if the solution of more technology to amend what it has generated in football does not further alter a game that until not long ago 11 basic rules were enough to be played fluently and generate less complex controversies than those that occur now.
The material follows the trend of large global brands of trying to show themselves as references for sustainability and solidarity. The ball is made with recycled polyester, water-based ink, corn fibers, sugar cane and wood pulp. In addition, it announced that 1% of the profits generated by its marketing will go to the charity organization. Common Goal chaired by former Spanish international Juan Mata.
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