The UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 is currently underway and for the first time in Women’s EURO history, the official match ball features Connected Ball Technology: a technology designed to enable faster and more accurate officiating and enhance fan engagement.
In this article, we take a closer look at Connected Ball Technology and other technologies changing the game of football.
Developments in football officiating technology
Most football fans will be familiar with Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology, which was first introduced into professional football in 2016 and uses camera footage to check on-field referee decisions, in an effort to ensure their accuracy. Since its introduction, VAR technology has faced much criticism for taking too long to reach a decision and generally interrupting the flow of football matches. As a result, research into technology to improve the speed and performance of VAR continues at great pace.
More recently, semi-automated offside technology (SAOT), first officially implemented at 2022 FIFA World Cup, has started to be more widely used, making its official Premier League debut in April of this year. SAOT uses AI to automate the review process for close offside calls, with the aim of speeding up judgement and minimising disruption to play. In particular, SAOT automatically decides: when a ball was kicked; where and at what angle the defender’s body was when the ball was kicked; and where and what angle the attacker’s body was at the moment of contact, reducing work for VAR officials.
The connected ball
Connected Ball Technology, developed by adidas in collaboration with KINEXON Sports, incorporates a ball tracking sensor into a football. The sensor, an inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor developed by KINEXON Sports, is stabilised within the football by a suspension system developed and patented by adidas. The sensor is able to communicate with antennas placed around the football field, to enable real-time tracking of the ball’s position, speed and much more. The suspension system is specially designed to hold the sensor in place, under match conditions, without affecting ball performance.
While the first prototype connected balls were produced in the early 2000s, only more recently, through developments in material science, has it been possible to produce connected balls, ready for implementation, that are indistinguishable from a standard football in both appearance and performance.
At the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025, Connected Ball Technology is being integrated with SAOT to more accurately determine when a ball was kicked. However, improving accuracy of offside decisions is not the only possible use of Connected Ball Technology. Another example use of the technology is in detecting hand balls. When touched, a connected ball generates a signal, resembling a heartbeat, which is displayed on the screens of the VAR, helping to alert VAR officials to potential hand balls that may have been missed by the on-pitch referee. This feature of Connected Ball Technology has previously made headlines both for resulting in a controversial penalty decision at UEFA EURO 2024 and for being the subject of an unsuccessful UPC infringement action brought before the Hamburg local division in 2024.
Protecting innovation through IP
The implementation of tracking and AI technologies in football is only set to increase as companies in the football technology space aim to: perfect VAR and eliminate human error in match officiating; increase fan engagement through the provision of real-time data; and provide data for coaching and performance analysis.
Robust IP strategies are critical to protect and commercialise innovations in this area. In particular, obtaining strong patent protection can create valuable licensing and partnership opportunities, and protect against infringement.
