K minus 14 days - Innovation at the Games

The FIFA World Cup is organized on such a huge scale, it's the biggest single event sports competition in the world, its impact on the host nation, on the broadcasters, media, viewers and the participating nations is more than noteworthy. On television and internet, it is the most followed event, and the fact that football is played literally in every nation of the world, including the Vatican makes it one of the most influential events

This is exactly why most of the innovations are introduced at or around the World Cup. Even the players chose to introduce their innovation like celebrations, new moves, hairstyles, beards, apparel and other accessories during a World Cup. No wonder Qatar has won the bid mostly based on cooling technologies, carbon-neutrality and man-made clouds, it promise to introduce to the world by 2022

FIFA World Cup 2014 at Brazil has its fair share of innovations in terms of advancements in sports, and sustainability of environment. The mascot of the cup Fuleco, is a three-banded armadillo, which is one of the endangered species native to Brazil. Fuleco comes from Football and Ecology (Futebol and Ecologia in Portuguese) and sustainability is one of the most recurring themes of this tourney

Here are some of the technological innovations we're going to witness at the World Cup

Football is one of the most uninterrupted sports, in terms of break of play due to non-playing circumstances. It has only one break in normal time and the goals and fouls that offer some kind of breaks in play are part and parcel of the game. It is due to this reason that FIFA doesn't want to stuff the game with lots of technology in order to maintain the natural flow of an established game. Due to this fact, games are sometimes hit by controversies when the Referee adjust debatable line calls regarding goals, off-sides, corners and penalties

FIFA decided to introduce its much anticipated goal-line technology, which was trialed and deemed fit in 2013 Confederations Cup. Each goal post is monitored by seven high speed cameras and capture a ball passing the post at 5000 pictures per second. Within a second the referee will be notified, as vibrations and alerts, through a gadget he wears, whether the goal has been scored or not

To assist the against the mischief of the players who tend to move around or move the ball, to gain advantages during free kicks, FIFA introduced the vanishing spray. Referees can mark the ten-yard line and the position of the ball with the spray, which duly vanishes in a minute after use

All the stages of the World Cup hosting are planned and implemented to ensure sustainability and environmental preservation. Most of the newly built stadiums use the theme of reuse, renew and recycle in order to be nature friendly, especially in case of waste management, environment conservation, energy usage and raw material utilization. Solar panels are extensively used to produce renewable energy. Waste and water are better managed with an emphasis on recycling. Carbon emission is reduced to a minimum and preventive measures against its impact are being undertaken

The volunteer programs are also improvised so that the trained participants can be employed in future programs. It is often debated whether this could be the greenest tourney ever to be held at this scale

Adidas, the official partner of FIFA, seems to have delivered a much improved game ball this World Cup, termed as the Brazuca. It follows uo the much criticized Jabulani from World Cup 2010. Here are the sailent features of Brazuca according to Adidas

• Most aerodynamic in nature due to its panel shape and provides the most reliable flight speed and shape
• With a water absorption rate of just 0.2 percent, it will retain its weight, shape and size even in the most heaviest of rains
• Latex made bladder would ensure a desired bounce
• Made of six thermally bonded rough panels, the geometry of the ball ensures the most reliable flight path reducing unpredictable movement