Source: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
[Saba Sports News] According to the latest news from the Spanish media, the Spanish Football Federation’s referee committee is currently discussing a revolutionary proposal, which is that La Liga is considering handing referee decision-making power to AI. Since the announcement of this news, it has attracted significant attention from the media and players. It is reported that if AI is used in the future to automatically detect offside, fouls, and other behaviors, it can reduce the need for VAR manual review, speed up the pace of the game, make the game more fluid, and improve the audience’s viewing experience. Moreover, in terms of decision-making, AI can analyze a large amount of data and variables to recommend the most suitable referee for each game, reducing human factors interference and making referee selection more scientific. At the same time, AI algorithms can update penalty standards in real-time, handle complex situations more fairly, help improve the accuracy and consistency of penalties, and reduce disputes caused by referees’ subjective judgments. However, there are also concerns from the outside world that AI systems may be technologically immature, and if there are misjudgments, the correction process may be more complicated, unlike human referees who can adjust in time according to the situation on the spot. Additionally, the transparency of AI penalties is not absolute, and their decision-making process may be difficult for the public to fully understand.