Qatar 2022: Does Al Rihla, the official ball of the World Cup, need to be charged?

A tweet has raised a big question mark: why does Al Rihla, the official ball of Qatar 2022, need to be loaded before every match? The ball that is used in the World Cup is the most technological, but it is not connected to an electrical outlet to make it work as such, but for another reason.

“A few years ago Who would have thought that we were going to load a ball before a football game??”, published the user @sebastian_me, accompanying the message with a photograph of several World Cup balls connected to a plug.

A few years ago, who would have thought that we were going to load a ball before a football game? pic.twitter.com/Dll4hUNc0L

— C:Seba (@sebastia_me) November 29, 2022

However, despite what we might think, Al Rihla is not “loaded” so it can be used in matches. On the contrary, it could be used without even connecting it once in all the life it may have.

The answer lies on the technological side. The ball itself does not need to be charged, but the systems inside it. That is, for the sensors it has built-in to work, it must be connected to an electrical outlet. So the battery that powers these chips will keep them running during matches.

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With that, the ball maintains its function on the field of play, but also helps video refereeing, the automatic goal system and the semi-automated offside system. That is why it needs to be “charged” before each game.

Al Rihla has been used in all Qatar 2022 World Cup matches so far and its performance has already been demonstrated. The ball, however, does not have these systems for the general publicso if we get to buy it, it will only be an ordinary ball.

Source: Elcomercio

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