Sport Innovation/Technology on- and off-field at the 2014 FIFA World Cup

INTRODUCTION TO TECHNOLOGY IN FOOTBALL (SOCCER) Football (soccer) is a sport that has so far resisted the use of high-tech support on and off-field. There is a range of new machineries developed to improve the game’s result and flow. A wireless technology is already in use and can adjudicate on off-side decisions such as whether a ball passes over the goal line; clarify penalty decisions, replays on big screens and with an off-field referee interconnecting with the umpires on the field; as many other possibilities to make the game clear. However, FIFA’s decision of keeping technology away from the fields also has sustenance; the gaming can lose the characteristics and the World Game can suffer with changes and impacts still unknown, speculations arise the idea of threat the Game’s Magic. While on-field technologies are easier to control and be banned from fields, off-field interaction indicates a long way to be adapted and soccer is no longer different. The use of Social Media for example is changing how supporters spectate the games and bringing place a more interactive communication channel. Moreover, Sport Broadcasting suffered impacting changes in live and Online Streaming forcing FIFA and the major sporting events to adapt themselves to a new way of showcasing the matches. ON-FIELD TECHNOLOGY Goal-line technology GPS Tracking OFF-FIELD TECHNOLOGY Track Check Video Replay and Big Screen Social Media in Soccer Broadcasting