Cristiano Ronaldo did not score Portugal’s first goal against Uruguay, Adidas’s sensor technology has proven.
In a 2:0 Portugal defeat against Uruguay on Monday night at the ongoing FIFA World Cup tournament, there have been controversies if Ronaldo nodding the ball following a sublime cross from Bruno Fernandez.
FIFA awarded the goal to Fernandes, but the former Manchester United talisman was convinced he should have been given it. Now, Adidas has provided clear evidence through technology that the 37-year-old player never had any contact with the ball.
Although Ronaldo’s attempted header served as a dummy that confused the keeper. Even though his head didn’t touch the ball, it’s all part of the game.
Reacting to the development, Johannes Holzmüller, Director of Football Technology& Innovation at FIFA said: ‘This technology is the culmination of three years of dedicated research and testing by FIFA and our partner Adidas.’
The match balls for the Qatar World Cup include a finely tuned motion sensor integrated within them to assist the VAR with offside calls.
The technology enables data to be gathered 500 times per second for every touch. There is a rechargeable battery inside the sensor.
It underwent extensive testing at the local level to ensure that it was World Cup match ready, including a blind test in the FIFA Club World Cup and FIFA Arab Cup.
VAR Technology
Technology has been impactful in football. This is evident in the invention of VAR (Video Assistant Referee). The technology is useful in helping referees make accurate decisions, but this study has shown it has definite limitations.
There are arguments that the frame-rate and resolution of the cameras used in VAR sometimes does not keep pace with the fast movements, meaning that sometimes the player or the ball is blurred.
Football is getting better and better with technology.
