Football of the future will change colour when a goal is scored

If this news is anything to go by, the next thing will be testing is a football.  Design agency Citrus has just released its proposals for this revolutionary new football, which it hopes will put an end to calls for video refereeing of matches that crop up ever now and again.

The basic version of the C1 is transparent by default, but changes colour based on its position.  It's green most of the time, but changes to pink when it crosses the goal line.  That's because it's very unlike a regular football: inside its 'skele-core' frame is a processor and a localisation chip.  The ball knows exactly where it is on the pitch, including when it's crossed a goal line.  Once it knows it's scored, it changes colour.  It does the same it leaves the field as well.



Better still, it sends back technical information about its speed and position, so it can tell commentators in real time how fast and how hard a striker just kicked it--stats fans will have even more details at their disposal.  It also includes a camera, whose feed is stabilised by some internal software.  Who knows how effective it will be, but the results on a 3D TV could be incredible.

The manufacturers claim that, although it's not stitched in leather, this new ball feels and responds just like a traditional one would.


Several versions have already been outlined:


Here's what it's like on video:

And again ...

The ball has yet to be approved for official matches, and nobody knows when it will be available or how much it will cost.  And when it does come out, the pitches will also have to be prepared to make sure they're compatible …

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