Source: Sky News
Security & Justice
Captured Hezbollah Operative May Have Been Israeli Double Agent, Report Suggests
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Monday, November 4, 2024
Lebanon’s Probe into Israeli Raid Expected to Take Days as Security Officials Weigh Theories
Lebanese authorities are ramping up investigations into an Israeli commando raid last week in the northern coastal city of Batroun, during which Imad Amhaz, a Hezbollah official, was snatched.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Opinion
The Emptying of Baalbek Is a Moment to Take Stock
“Large numbers of people continue to flee their homes every day, as Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been going on unabated.” These disturbing words could be from almost any news report about Israel’s invasion of its northern neighbour over the past month. However, they can be found in a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre issued on July 27, 2006.
Saturday, November 2, 2024
A Future Without Hezbollah
At the end of September, when Israel’s campaign to destroy Hezbollah was reaching its height, I met one of the group’s supporters in a seaside café in western Beirut. He was a middle-aged man with a thin white beard and the spent look of someone who had not slept for days. He was an academic of sorts, not a fighter, but his ties to Hezbollah were deep and long-standing.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Sports
Tottenham Forward Son Heung-min Crowned Asia’s International Player of the Year
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was crowned as Asia’s International Player of the Year for the fourth time by the Asian Football Confederation at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Real Madrid Launch Investigation into Racist Insults After El Clasico Defeat
Real Madrid has launched an investigation into racist insults directed at players during Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to Barcelona in LaLiga, it said on Sunday.
Monday, October 28, 2024
Wednesday 6 December 2023 12:50:23
Microchip in Adidas Euro 2024 Ball Will Be Used to Help Referees Make Handball Decisions
A microchip inside Adidas's Euro 2024 ball will be used to help referees make handball decisions at next summer's tournament.
The German sportswear brand says its Fussballliebe will contain a rechargeable microchip that can send precise ball data to video match officials in real time.
The chip was used in the semi-automated offside decision-making process in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The technology will now be used in offside decisions at the men's Euro 2024 tournament in Germany next summer, according to Adidas.
As first reported by The Times, the chip will also be used in conjunction with limb-tracking technology to help determine whether there has been a handball in the lead-up to a goal.
"Our Connected Ball Technology will be used during the competition," a spokesperson told Sky News.
How does it work?
Adidas's Euro 2024 football contains a rechargeable motion sensor at the centre of the ball.
The microchip can detect up to 500 movements per second - meaning it can accurately record when a ball is touched by a player.
It was used alongside movement-tracking technology in the semi-automated offside decision-making system in Qatar to determine the moment the ball was played in the build-up to a goal.
The system is semi-automated because referees still have to decide whether a player in an offside position is interfering with play.
UEFA - the governing body responsible for the European Championships - already uses a similar semi-automated offside system in its premier club competition, the Champions League.
However, it does not currently involve the use of a microchipped ball.
Instead, it uses cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) to determine the moment the ball is played to the eventual goalscorer.
The semi-automated offside system is different from the VAR system used in the Premier League, which involves officials manually drawing lines to measure whether a player is in an offside position.
The lines are drawn based on five cameras calibrated before the match, with the system also able to use broadcast cameras to identify the point of contact with the ball by the attacker and synchronise all cameras for this purpose.
The Premier League is reportedly considering switching to a semi-automated offside system next season - though nothing has been announced.
Handball decisions in the Premier League are also reviewed with the current VAR system.
