Fans watching Euro 2024 on television will benefit from an equivalent of cricket’s “snickometer” for the first time this summer, potentially offering greater clarity around handball and offside decisions.
“Connected ball” technology, which fits match balls with a motion-sensing microchip that can track every touch at a rate of 500 times a second, will be used in Germany after being deployed effectively at Qatar 2022. It is sensitive enough to determine whether the ball brushed a hand en route to goal or whether a player strayed beyond the last defender at the precise moment it was kicked.
