Video Assistant Referee

Video Assistant Referee (VAR) systems aim to improve the accuracy and fairness of officiating in sports like soccer by using AI to analyze video footage of potentially controversial incidents. Current research focuses on developing robust AI models, often employing multi-view video analysis, convolutional neural networks (CNNs), recurrent neural networks (RNNs), and transformer architectures, to automatically detect and classify fouls and other key events. These advancements aim to make VAR technology more accessible and affordable, potentially benefiting both professional and amateur leagues by providing more consistent and reliable officiating decisions. Furthermore, research is exploring explainable AI techniques to increase transparency in the decision-making process of these systems.