Victoria University (VU) has been confirmed as the first university in the world to be an official FIFA Research Institute for Football Technology.
The global governing body for international football will strengthen its support of cutting-edge innovation and technology, where they first collaborated with VU in 2016.
The two organisations worked to develop an innovative international standard for FIFA’s quality program to assess the accuracy of Electronic Performance Tracking Systems (EPTS). FIFA first allowed EPTS in 2015 and clubs have increasingly used them to track player performance and movement. The project drew on VU’s expertise in biomechanics, exercise physiology and data analytics, as well as the University’s work on wearable technologies with the AFL club Western Bulldogs.
VU researchers impressed FIFA during a five-hour meeting in Zurich, with their plans to test a range of EPTS during actual games – comparing them to VICON, an independent gold-standard motion-capture system that provides precise, three-dimensional measurements of people or objects.
Professor Rob Aughey remembers his team completing a 10-page response to FIFA’s questions about their proposal on the plane home “to show them as researchers, we could be quick, agile and responsive.”
VU is now a FIFA-Accredited test institute and runs annual tests for FIFA on the many models of EPTS. VU’s other previously conducted validation testing will ensure that the semi-automated offside technology FIFA recently approved for offside calls will deliver accurate, quick, and clear decisions in the world’s biggest football contest now in Qatar.
“This development enhances the integrity of the game and is an example of an excellent application of technology to assist and support referee decisions,” Professor Aughey said via press release.
“VU is increasingly strengthening its collaboration with FIFA, including by providing VU data collected over the past six years for other research projects.
“It’s really exciting that we are expanding our collaboration in a much deeper and more meaningful way with one of the biggest brands in the world.”
To become an official FIFA Research Institute, organisations must have a minimum of five years collaboration with FIFA’s Football Technology and Innovation division, among other eligibility criteria.
View a video of VU-FIFA collaboration here.
