With the Women’s World cup kicking off, Sparta Global has highlighted five ways in which technology impacts the football industry. Read our latest blog to find out how you can use your technology skills to support the future of football…
Football embraces innovation to enhance player performance and engage fans worldwide. With evolving technology, the sport is now incorporating artificial intelligence (AI), offering exciting possibilities for its future. AI is a software that can mimic human behaviours such as planning, generating ideas, using locations, and understanding speech and visuals. In light of the Women’s World Cup starting on the 20th of July, we chose this topic to explore five different ways AI can and will drive change within the football industry.
AI’s potential in officiating and VAR technology is significant. AI algorithms make refereeing faster, more accurate, and eliminate biases. Games run smoothly, and unsportsmanlike behaviour can be detected through players’ movements, enhancing game integrity.
During a game, coaches are faced with the responsibility of making strategic decisions and player substitutions. Using a database and computer system which includes information about each player, the AI algorithm will then provide the coaches with insights and decision support during matches.
AI algorithms can analyse vast amounts of player data such as physiological data and training as well as injury history, where the algorithm can identify patterns and potential injury risks. AI can analyse player data, detecting early warning signs and providing personalised rehabilitation programs, reducing the risk of injury.
Data about players can be collected by AI algorithms, through matches or training sessions. This data may include pass completion rate, shooting accuracy, tackling effectiveness, and dribbling success rate. By identifying patterns and trends observed in other players, AI algorithms can generate predictions about player’s future performance. This enables coaches to gain valuable insights into their players’ performance, making data-driven decisions and providing a standardised way to categorise players.
AI can support teams’ scouting and recruitment process. This can be done by analysing a player’s performance, playing style, decision making patterns, market, and talent identification against a set of filters to find a player that matches what a team is looking for. AI is also able to predict future market values, assisting clubs in making informed recruitment decisions.
In conclusion, AI integration in football enhances officiating, player performance analysis, injury prevention, and scouting. It makes football more efficient and engaging for players, coaches, and fans worldwide. In the lead up to the Women’s World Cup, the French national team created an advert that used AI (check it out here). As football embraces technological advancements, AI will shape the sport’s future.
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Natasha Fasanotti has always had an interest in technology, pursuing a degree in Computer Science to turn her passion into a career. But when it came to leaving university and picking a path - the options were overwhelming, unclear, and Natasha wanted to find an opportunity that could help her specialise in something that utilised her skills through and through. Joining Sparta Global in February this year, Natasha upskilled in test automation and is now an integral part of a mult-Spartan project team operating in the public sector.
When Ekaterina (Kat) McNeill began her Psychology studies at University, she wouldn’t have predicted a future working in Data and a successful career kickstart working in the public sector – but that’s exactly what Kat has achieved. In fact, her line manager told us how Kat got to grips with complex code with little to no documentation, worked out how to access data that was previously thought inaccessible, and modelled it through a workflow. Her skills have already made an impact on site and we can’t wait to see what Kat does next…
After initially forging a career in Mechanical Engineering, Bradley Woods found himself searching for an opportunity to change careers and pursue an interest in technology. With a firm determination to find training opportunities in DevOps, Bradley joined the Sparta Academy in early 2023 and quickly secured his first role working in the public sector. Nominated for Spartan of the Month for his “dedication and hard work” that have been “instrumental in the smooth execution of high-profile project”, we spoke to Bradley about his time in tech.