When the UEFA Euro 2024 football tournament kicks off tomorrow, the all-seeing eye of artificial intelligence (AI) will be glued to the action stronger than the eyes of even the most ardent fans. Referees will be able to track any slight motion made by the ball and players thanks to the latest video assisted referee (VAR) technology. Since its introduction in 2016, VAR has been hotly debated among football fans. Inconsistencies in the way referees apply the technology, and the time they sometimes take to make decisions has fueled discontent. The English Premier League even held a vote last week on whether to scrap VAR altogether ' clubs ultimately voted 19 to 1 in favour of keeping it, but the opposition highlighted the need for improvements. An upgraded, semi-automated version of the technology incorporating more-advanced AI and a real-time location-tracking chip embedded in the ball was first used in a major global tournament in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Euro 2024 will...
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