Technological secrets of EURO 2024 – TELEPOLIS.PL
One of the largest sporting events in the world is about to start. The European Football Championship will be watched by fans all over the world. The experience of the matches will also be improved by new technologies, which will be in abundance at EURO 2024. Let's discuss them.
Technologies are present in almost every aspect of our lives. We carry extremely efficient computers in our pockets. Washing machines, refrigerators and clothes dryers can communicate with each other via the Internet. Traffic lights are managed by complex systems. Even the photos we take with our phones are improved by machine learning algorithms. Wherever we look, we will see a technological element.
This trend also affects sports. Today it is difficult to imagine a volleyball or tennis match without the so-called challenges that allow players or teams to check whether the judges made the right decision. Technologies are also increasingly entering the most popular sport in the world, football. I decided to check what exactly the organizers, UEFA and TVP had prepared for this occasion. We managed to access the presentation prepared by the European organization for all tournament participants.
A ball stuffed with new technologies
Let's start with what is particularly important for players, but also referees, i.e. an Adidas ball called FUSSBALLLIEBE. This is where all matches at the German tournament will be played. But why does the topic of football appear in the context of new technologies? You must know that the football is full of solutions that would have been unthinkable a dozen or so years ago, and it's not about the material used (although that is also important), but about the sensors inside.
The FUSSBALLLIEBE ball uses a technology that adidas calls Connected Ball. Inside there is a special suspension system, the central point of which is the IMU (internal measurement unit) motion sensor. With a frequency of 500 Hz, i.e. 500 times per second, it can recognize not only the position of the ball, but also the moment when it is hit. This is to help referees make key decisions for the match, e.g. offside. How? Thanks to Connected Ball, they will know at what exact moment the ball was kicked, so they will precisely determine the moment of the pass, and thus a possible offside position. In addition, FUSSBALLLIEBE will precisely inform the referees about crossing the goal line and the need to recognize the goal.
How will VAR work?
Things get even more interesting in the context of the VAR system, which – as I have already mentioned – will be partially supported by the ball itself. We learned from UEFA how exactly each match broadcast will be carried out. All matches will be recorded using as many as 46 cameras, 33 of which will be directed directly at events on the pitch, and the remaining 13 will focus on what is happening around the match. These will be lenses aimed at, among others, fans in the stadium, substitute benches, showing players entering the pitch, and even presenting an image from a helicopter located above the stadium.
But let's get back to the 33 cameras that will show the players and the match. The breakdown is as follows:
• Eight triple-speed super-slow-motion cameras.
• Two high-speed cameras.
• Two high-speed pole cameras (one at each end).
• One aerial camera system.
• Two radio frequency (RF) cinema cameras.
• Two camera cranes with heads behind the goal (one at each end).
• Eight handheld cameras
How does this relate to the VAR system, which is supposed to check, among other things, offsides and committed fouls? It turns out that the judges will have each of the previously mentioned cameras at their disposal, so nothing should escape their attention. If one object does not show what exactly happened, there should be several other recordings at the arbitrators' disposal to help them make the right decision.
Moreover, each match will be covered by a team consisting of: one VAR referee, two assistant referees (AVAR) and three video operators. They will be located in VOR rooms (video operations rooms) created for this purpose, which were built in the TECH Hub (football technologies hub) at the international broadcasting center in Leipzig. Importantly, the VAR image will not be delivered to the bench in any way, so neither players nor coaches will have access to it during matches.
Goal-line technology and semi-automatic offside system
In addition, GLT (Goal-line Technology) and SAOT (Semi-automated offside technology) will also be used at EURO 2024. The first of these solutions has been used in the most important European tournaments since 2016. The system consists of 7 cameras (for each goal) that precisely determine the position of the ball and inform the referees whether the ball has fully crossed the goal line and therefore should award a goal. Information about this goes to the watches that all referees will have on their wrists in just 1 second, so it can be said that the system works in real time.
Referees will also be supported by SOAT, a semi-automatic offside system. This was first introduced during Champions League matches in 2022. The mechanism consists of 10 special cameras that are intended to precisely determine as many as 29 different points on the body of each player on the pitch. Combined with adidas Connected Ball technology, this allows you to accurately determine whether the player was in an offside position at the exact moment of the pass.
Technologies for all EURO 2024 teams
In addition, UEFA also provides numerous technological solutions for each team taking part in the tournament, including the Polish national team. Here we managed to obtain a presentation that representatives of the European football organization presented to the teams at a special meeting in Leipzig.
First of all, this is detailed information about each match, all teams and players, and it is not about their age, but specific statistics achieved during the matches. These include ball possession, number of shots, interception efficiency, key passes, etc. This is to facilitate tactical analysis. This will be even easier thanks to special cameras. UEFA has prepared two devices that will record the match at all times. One will be placed on the side of the pitch and the other behind one of the goals. Thanks to this, coaches and selectors will get a precise view of the situation on the pitch, because the wide angle will allow them to observe the position of as many as 21 players at the same time (20 from the field and the team's goalkeeper, who is currently defending).
The image from these cameras, in HD-SDI 1080p50 quality, will be delivered to the teams via coaxial cables. But here's an interesting fact – the teams themselves have to provide devices that will be able to receive the signal. UEFA gives this opportunity, but teams must ensure that they have access to the materials. Additionally, the organizers have provided one place for an additional camera that can be placed by each team, but it does not provide any cabling, so the teams must take care of it themselves.
In addition, a whole range of equipment and solutions have been prepared for the teams on the substitute benches. These include such basic issues as a power strip and an Ethernet cable with Internet access. However, the list doesn't end there. There are also as many as six cables with access to the previously mentioned image from tactical cameras and a tactical and medical team replay system (MVRS – Medical Video Review System), where two tablets are provided to operate them. Particularly interesting is the special area next to the substitutes' bench, with an area of 1 m2, where teams can place an antenna for the GPS tracking system.
What about the broadcast itself?
We already know what will happen on the pitch, in the VAR rooms, on the substitute benches, and later also in the coaches' rooms, when they will analyze each match. It's time to take a look at what the broadcast itself will look like, both from UEFA and Telewizja Polska, which will show all EURO 2024 matches.
All matches are produced in single-layer 1080p50 HDR (hybrid log-gamma, HLG) format. UEFA's multi-feed concept offers broadcast partners access to a variety of live channels, including the main match feed, the Live Stadium Feed (LSF), available in SDI 1080p50 HDR, 1080p50 SDR and 1080i50.
– UEFA told us.
However, the global satellite distribution of all UEFA EURO 2024 matches, subject to the reservation of broadcasting partners, will be in 1080p/1080i SDR quality. Additionally, partners can access the stream in a variety of ways.
directly at the competition venue, at the IBC or, for the first time at EURO, remotely via the Content Hub/POP (points-of-presence) service provided by UEFA's distribution partner, Eurovision Services. Broadcast partners can receive their content via POP in four major European data centers (Amsterdam, Frankfurt (x2) and London, as well as in New York.
– informs the European football organization.
As for TVP, the broadcaster that will show all matches in Poland, they will be broadcast on the TVP1, TVP2, TVP Sport and TVP Info channels. We will watch them not only on TV, but also on the TVP Sport website and dedicated mobile and Smart TV applications.
Great sport must have the best setting, and this will be provided by Telewizja Polska during EURO 2024. Two main channels, TVP1 and TVP2, are dedicated to the broadcast, and all 51 matches will be shown by TVP Sport. We are constantly developing new technologies, so traditionally, the matches will be available on the tvpsport.pl website and in the mobile application and Smart TV. We have prepared extended studies, exclusive reports, our journalists will be present every day in Hannover, where the White and Reds' base will be located. We have invited outstanding experts, former players such as Kuba Błaszczykowski, Łukasz Piszczek and Łukasz Fabiański, coaches to cooperate on EURO 2024, and the irreplaceable Darek Szpakowski returns to the commentator's nest, for whom these are the 11th finals of the European Championship, so he is, in a sense, the captain of our journalist team . EURO 2024 is a great sports celebration, and if it is a great sport, it is only on TVP
– says Jakub Kwiatkowski, director of TVP Sport.
The opening match of UEFA EURO 2024 will be played on June 14 at 8:30 p.m. The hosts of the tournament, i.e. Germany and Scotland, will face each other. The Polish national team will play their matches on June 16 against the Netherlands (3:00 p.m.), on June 21 against Austria (6:00 p.m.) and on June 25 against France (6:00 p.m.).
