Robot referee launched by Betfair

Betfair launches a robot referee. “No longer will referee miss key decisions on the pitch”, says a robotics engineer. The video is just published on YouTube, a bit late for April Fools’ Day, but it got me thinking about the future of refereeing.

What technology could help football referees? The hawk-eye system, a video referee or what could a Google Glass mean for referees?

I’d love to hear from you how you see the future of football refereeing. Share your thoughts, that could lead to a good new article about the possibilities and wishes of referees.

Check the video below with the robot referee who recognizes players and can give them yellow cards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPhZI0jA8S4

The comment on the video, which is nice though, says “April Fools’ Day is a favourable day for bookmakers, and Betfair didn’t hang around in getting their latest idea on the airwaves. Using the “very latest artificial intelligence and computer technology”, ‘RoboRef’ will be pitched to the Premier League and FA at the end of the season, in the hope of eradicating the controversial decisions made by human error.

I once saw the vanishing spray by referees as an April Fool, but the referees at the World Cup will be using it surprisingly.