The sheer scale of data being recorded at this summer's World Cup is unprecedented. FIFA, the tournament organiser, will track around 150 million data points per match. Inside the ball alone, sensors monitoring IMUs (Inertial Measurement Units) will log 500 movements per second to trace the ball's motion. Lucey is chief scientist at Stats Perform, the data and AI company whose work underpins almost the entire global soccer ecosystem. Their statistics are used across every aspect of the modern game. It powers player scouting and multimillion-dollar fees for player transfers, helps coaching staff choose tactics and lineups, and devises corner and free kick routines. Players use it to negotiate contracts, broadcasters to entertain. AI now enables data to be collected across matches around the globe like never before, and staff inside teams are pushing boundaries to crunch that data at unprecedented speed. At the World Cup, swathes of information will be manipulated and analysed, by...
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