Reds, Blues and AI Clues? How Artificial Intelligence is Breaking into the Football Sphere

Before we kick-off

The game of football holds different meanings to different people, for some, it’s home, it’s family, it's Sundays. For others it’s noise through a tv, a hobby on the side, or for the very skilled few it’s their life, their profession, their money maker. Before embarking on territory I’m not too familiar with, it’ll be helpful to address the elements I will be discussing regarding the implementation of Artificial Intelligence into a sport like football. Firstly, we'll look at the stages of football training, what type of technology is currently available in the market, and the effect of this technology. By effect, we will look into the effect on the players' technical skill and game performance, as well as the effect on the ethical issues that could be raised. Ethics in this context, is the balancing of scales, we want to promote innovation, and improvement but at what cost? And what risk? The ethical element brings about the question of the “heart” of the game, such as the effect of AI integration on current coaches, the dynamic of the game itself, and whether this introduction will create too great a gap between those who can access this technology and those who cannot. 

The Stages of Football Training

Without delving into too great a detail, but enough so we can gain the right understanding of the technical elements required in football training, there seems to be 5 key stages. Stage 1 (U5-U8) being the fundamentals. This is where a player would develop motor skills (running, jumping, throwing, grabbing and kicking). This stage is more about stimulating the taste for the sport, and working as a team. Stage 2 is learning how to train, and the basics of the game (U9-U11). Looking at it from a technical point of view, this stage seems to focus on the development and improvement of technical skills. One way this is done is by small-sided games to improve decision making, passing, ball reception and defensive techniques. Stage 3 is developing the know-how in training (U13), which marks the initiation and adaptation to specific training. Introduction to tractions, the various systems, as well as, offensive and defensive tactical schemes such as marking, unmarking and occupation of free space. 

Stage 4 (U15-U18), is training to compete professionally and the development of the foundations of performance. The aim is to consolidate, and accelerate the athletes skills such as quick strength, speed, acceleration, flexibility, aerobic and anaerobic work as well as injury prevention. Finally, stage 5 (U19-U23) is competing professionally and developing income. This is where there should be specialisation in technique level, by improving individual actions. It’s vital at this stage to develop skills adjusted to the demands and characteristics of the competition. 

The Football and Artificial Intelligence Market 

These stages are usually taught by ex-professional football players, creating a stream of revenue for the well-known lower retirement age dilemma sport can bring upon athletes. Now, let’s move on to what technological advancements are available. Some I found were aiScout, BALLN, and Empathetic AI. AiScout uses an Artificial Intelligence based platform where football clubs and organisations can utilise the system to find, analyse, scout and develop amateur players all over the world. BALLN, uses AI, sports science and behavioural science to create "Player Card" tests and improvement programs. These "Player Cards" which I can best describe as a technologically advanced top-trump card, lists the different skills and levels of the player. Whilst DeepMind AI, uses sensors and biomechanics, to represent an athletes’ movements in 3D. These are used to program humanoids to recreate the inputted data, and you would be able to watch it through, as you would watch a normal game of football if you were watching it through a screen. All of these systems help visualise game information which uncovers how players play, not just how they rank. 

Now we know what type of training is involved, we can see just how useful these types of systems could be. For example in the later stages of 4 and 5; AI technology that could tell you how the competition plays, such as Deepmind AI, would be extremely useful in learning their players' strengths, weaknesses, common tactics or formations. Additionally, BALLN, where younger players' could compare their card to their friends, would be great in stages 1-3 where skills, team work, coordination, and having fun seem to be the main focus. Lastly, AiScout could also open doors for talent that would’ve otherwise gone unnoticed, and all in some way could help prevent injuries to players'. One study by Hongui Li, Chunhai Cui and Shuai Jiang on the Strategy for Improving the Football Teaching Quality Results, showed that the stimulation in the study produced a good performance in hit ratio, response time and an increase in the satisfaction of the football training. However, there were some issues in the experiment which went on to highlight that it was not representational of the real experience of football training. 

The Ethical Dilemma

This leads us into the ethical dilemmas involved, for one, does this mean we no longer need to pay for professional coaches? Absolutely not. My take is that coaches bring the real-element of the game to a player, through disciplined teaching and through motivational support that cannot be replicated or recorded through any form of AI. The human element of the game must be preserved in my opinion, which especially includes the coaches. 

However, I do think this form of AI can be a player and coaches best friend, let’s say the frustrations of just not being able to “see” what they’re doing wrong, or from a coaches view, not being able to really “show” them what is going wrong or contrastingly what they did right. AI could be used hand-in-hand in order to really promote the evolution of a players skills as well as a tool to get players noticed by big clubs. The aspect of creating a gap between those who can access it and those who can’t could potentially be an issue in especially lower-income areas, however, access to a phone or someone who may have one is becoming more and more unlikely. Additionally, it seems more likely that this element would actually benefit someone who wouldn't have originally had the opportunity. 

The sector of AI in the football industry could also open up doors for injured or retired football players, by collaborating with researchers and programmers to implement correct teaching. AI programmes featuring players could generate a whole new revenue into football, and with more money should come more opportunity. Especially, since this could also mean animators for avatars, graphic designers and UX/UI designers getting involved.

As for the “heart” of the game, well, that’s really up to you to decide. Will the predictability feature of AI mean you no longer care to watch the game? Or will the stakes just rise because you know how prepared and skilled the players will be for it? It seems like it could go either way, but nevertheless, I doubt that such an intervention would turn the true football fans off the most beloved and played sport in the world. More importantly, this seems to be just the tip of the iceberg in terms of all the other possibilities and roles AI systems' could have in sports in general. 

Finishing all of this off with a few legal think-a-bouts; where does liability fall? If a player was to injure themselves due to carrying out an act that the AI recommended, would the company be found liable? Additionally, if a coach okay-ed it and it then resulted to injury, could the liability be passed onto the coach? Would such infiltration of the football scene, and future prediction of the sport scene mean specific interdisciplinary training for lawyers handle sport-tech clients in regards to mergers and acquisitions?