Euro 2024 ball ‘will be microchipped to help detect handballs and assist with offside calls’… with the limb-tracking technology set to aid VAR at the tournament in Germany
- The Euro 2024 ball will help detect handballs and assist with offsides
- Adidas's Fussballliebe can detect which part of the body the ball has hit
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According to reports, handball decisions at next year's European Championships will be aided by ball tracking technology that detects when a foul has been committed.
The handball rule often provokes controversial discussions and UEFA hopes that the advanced technology used in the tournament ball will overturn any incorrect decisions.
UEFA has invested in the Fussballliebe to help match officials with a similar design, which has already been successfully used by FIFA to make offside calls during last year's World Cup.
The chipped ball features a detection system behind the outer layer that branches throughout the entire ball and will be used at Euro 2024, as reported by The times.
Video assistant referees will benefit from the combination of limb tracking and the newly designed ball when making offside calls and handballs during the tournament taking place in Germany.
Handball decisions at next year's European Championship will be supported by ball tracking technology
UEFA has invested in the Fussballliebe to help match officials with a similar design, which was successfully used by FIFA during last year's World Cup
The technology gives decision makers a 3D representation of players' skeletons, with the ball able to pinpoint exactly where it has hit individuals on their bodies.
In incidents where the ball has hit a hand in the penalty area and could lead to a penalty, the technology will most likely be used frequently, but it will not override any decision made by the referees.
Premier League systems currently rely on video replays played to officials in a VAR room to determine whether a handball infringement has been committed.
HOW DOES THE ADIDAS EURO 2024 BALL WORK?
- Ball contains a microchip sensor that can detect movement up to 500x per second
- The sensor hangs in the center of the ball, but has no influence on the way players hit the ball
- The microchip and cameras that track the limbs can detect which part of the body the ball hit and when it was kicked
- The ball helps the match officials make handball and offside decisions during the game
However, it can still be difficult to make decisions when the ball hits a hand close to the body. The new ball technology will likely make such incidents easier to determine the correct outcome.
The newly designed Adidas match ball can detect when the ball has been kicked and, together with cameras in each stadium of the tournament, will also help make accurate offside decisions.
The Fussballliebe will not currently be used in the UEFA Champions League, which currently relies on cameras to make offside and handball rulings.
The ball can be charged via induction and should speed up decision-making in the game to avoid lengthy delays.