Facial Recognition Technology Revolutionizing Safety and Fan Experience in Football

New technologies in football are increasingly being adopted worldwide and facial recognition is one of them, not least because of the security it conveys both at the infrastructure level and at the fan level. Thairo Arruda, CEO of Botafogo, was present at the Thinking Football Summit and explained how the implementation of technology can be “everything the fan needs”. “We see a lot of fear from clubs to adopt new technologies. We wait to see if the rival does it well, and then we put it into ours. It can’t be like that, there has to be pioneering”, explained the general director of the Rio club. “We are already developing the technological issue, starting by implementing facial recognition in our stadium. We have also invested a billion dollars in an app that will have all the technologies that fans will need, including being able to buy club accessories and shirts”, he said. Arruda, who was one of the main bridges for businessman John Textor to acquire Fogão, also gave an example: “Last week, there was a case of sexual harassment in our stadium and the abuser could have been arrested if we had this technology. We have already seen the Flamengo fans destroying 370 chairs in the area allocated to them. Criminal acts and acts of vandalism can be eliminated with facial recognition technology”.

Joana Oliveira from Sports Diamond, a company that is implementing facial recognition in stadiums, defined the technology as “100% safe” and that it is already showing progress in situations like the one that happened at Palmeiras’ stadium, Allianz Parque.

“As we have an incredible record of data at a global level, it is possible to solve the problems. There was a case of a Palmeiras fan being murdered outside the sports venue and the killer was even recognized inside the stadium when cross-checking the data with the police” , he explained to those present, highlighting that the “presumed criminal was arrested immediately upon leaving the stadium”.

Public relations says that the app already has 515,000 subscribers and that, although in Brazil it started with Palmeiras, there is also support in other parts of the world. “La Liga, in Spain, already has a similar system and we have already been talking to some clubs like Osasuna”, he said.

Joana Oliveira also added that “some clubs in Europe are more uninformed than clubs in the Middle East” and concluded that facial recognition technology only tends “to grow”.

2023-09-08 11:21:10
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