Il football relies more and more on tech, to help the referees but not only, and to do so he chooses the Made in Italy. The Turin company Delta three, which for years has been offering digital services for broadcasters who broadcast matches in the Italian Serie A, has landed in all respects in Lionel Messi's championship: the Major Soccer League, which recently began with the Argentine star among the ranks of Inter Miami, now uses Video Assistant Referee technology (VAR) provided by SportecSolutions, the joint venture between Deltatre and DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga, i.e. the German championship with which the collaboration began in the 2022/2023 season, introducing VAR and Goal Line Technology approved by FIFA.
The Italian VAR conquers the world
The league that before Messi was already Pelè's and which this season has also secured the services of Luis Suarez is therefore only thelatest conquest of the Turin company, which, thanks to its almost 40 years of know-how, has entered a business, that of technology applied to football and sport in general, which has growth margins still to be explored. Before the agreement with the North American championship, valid until 2030 with coverage of 530 league games per season plus 77 of the Leagues Cup and the All Star Game, Deltatre had already become the leading service provider for over 100 leagues, federations and sporting events, with a portfolio of technologies that includes the development of complete systems for OTT streaming, the collection and processing of statistics, the creation of websites and apps, the creation of graphics for broadcasters, the implementation of AI for data collection and predictive performance analysis. In addition to Serie A, Bundesliga and now MLS, Deltatre works for the Premier League and UEFA and, outside of football, offers services for global events such as Super Bowl of the NFL, the circuit Atp tennis and American Major League Baseball. He also collaborates with individual clubs, for example in Italy he takes care of the Juventus digital ecosystem: website, mobile app and Juventus TV.
VAR in MLS: two big news
North American experience will bring two big news in the use of VAR and pitchside technology in general. In fact, for the first time, thanks to SportecSolutions, the Var decisions will announced directly from the microphone of the referee to the fans present at the stadium and to the spectators at home. A transparency operation that in Italy would not fail to generate controversy in any case, but which will be interesting to follow. Furthermore, the Italian-German joint venture will not limit itself to helping the referees: it will offer data collection on the matches and above all the medical sideline review, that is, a sort of "Var doctor”, a video assistant on the sidelines, available to the fourth official and the medical staff of the two teams, which allows game clashes and injuries to be analyzed in real time and the diagnosis to be anticipated.
The SportecSolutions spotter provides images and videos from different angles that club doctors may not have noticed live. Based on these images and the assessment of the field staff, for example a concussion, or a suspected concussion, may be assessed. An important innovation to protect the health of footballers, as well as the regularity of the game. Thanks to an Italian reality that has become the Silicon Valley of sport.
