Like an electrocardiogram. Or a seismograph. Whoever was in front of the TV today to enjoy Belgium-Slovakia couldn’t help but notice that little black window, bordered in blue, within which the line registered a sudden change when Openda touched the ball with his hand. Exactly: it is the action that led to the cancellation of Lukaku’s second goal. And that sort of electrocardiogram is nothing other than the detection of the sensors placed inside the ball and useful precisely in cases like this. That is, when the touch is light and can escape both the referee and the VAR, or when the perspective for examining the action is not optimal.
innovation
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In fact, many people, after Lukaku’s winning left-footed shot, wondered why they had first called the check from the VAR room, and then asked the Turkish whistleblower Meler to go and watch everything again directly on the monitor. We couldn’t understand why: Openda offside at the start? Some hidden impropriety? No: a touch with one hand, visible in practice only in slow motion, which allowed the Belgian to better adjust the ball in his overwhelming action. In practice, the graphic change seen on TV corresponds to the moment in which the ball impacts with the hand and Meler on the monitor, in addition to reviewing the action, had the assistance of technological innovation: the flat line of the device recorded a peak and then went back to “dormant”. The system is called “Fussballliebe” – Love for football – and equips the Adidas balls supplied to Euro2024 and therefore allows referees to have real-time information on when and with what surface of the body the ball was hit. The microchip inserted into the balloon remains suspended in the center of the sphere thanks to some tensioned wires that prevent its movement. And the balloon does not need batteries or direct connections to electricity sources: it charges by induction, thanks to electromagnetic fields.
