Premiere in Liga Portugal: SELECT Receives FIFA QUALITY PRO LABEL for Ball With Integrated KINEXON Sensor
The “Brillant Super iBall” (intelligent ball) from SELECT received the “FIFA Quality Pro” certification. The ball will make its debut in the playoff series of the first Portuguese Football League — Liga Portugal Bwin — and generate live data for the live broadcast on TV.
From training facilities of tech-savvy clubs to official match use: The “Brillant Super iBall” (intelligent ball) from SELECT has received the “FIFA Quality Pro” certification. So far, the technology has mainly been used in the training of data-driven Bundesliga clubs. The ball will make its debut in the playoff series of the first Portuguese Football League — Liga Portugal Bwin. The generated live data will be shared publicly within the live broadcast.
Portuguese professional football clubs participating in the relegation matches this season (end of May 2022) will be the first to play with official match balls from SELECT that have a KINEXON tracking sensor inside. Using radio technology, the sensor transmits its position and movement data around 50 times per second. In real-time, data on shot speed, passing accuracy, flight height, pass and shot lengths, passing paths and much more can be recorded and analyzed with centimeter precision. For use in an official league match, balls require the “FIFA Quality Pro” certification. SELECT has now received this certification for its tracking-capable model called “Brillant Super iBall”.
Portuguese Relegation Playoffs Will Be First Live Showcase
The ball will be used for the first time in the two relegation playoff matches between the 16th placed team of the first league and the 3rd placed team of the second league at the end of May. Mentioned statistics such as shot speed etc. will be displayed to fans in the live TV broadcast.
Insights on the Complete Game Action Available Live for the First Time
“We are proud that SELECT uses KINEXON best-in-class technology as partner in this project”, says Maximilian Schmidt, Global Sports Lead at KINEXON.
“The ball is the most important protagonist on the pitch. The ‘FIFA Quality Pro’ certification allows leagues to capture the entire match action seamlessly – and everything in real-time. Whether for clubs, leagues, sponsors or fans — this enables us to provide a wide range of stakeholders with valuable insights into the sport of football.”
SELECT is looking forward to clubs and fans discovering the new possibilities the SELECT iBall brings. CEO at SELECT Sport, Peter Knap, says:
“At SELECT Sport we are happy to announce that our new SELECT iBall, which we created together with KINEXON, is ready to be played with in the top leagues. We are looking forward to seeing the ball in action in the playoffs of the Portuguese football league, and for clubs, trainers, and fans to realize the new possibilities the SELECT iBall offers. This new football with a built-in tracking sensor, will improve the football experience, for both clubs and fans.”
Technology Already Proven in Top-Level Sport for Years
A total of five years of development work has gone into the Brillant Super iBall. SELECT and KINEXON have evolved and tested hundreds of prototypes for this. The first test took place in 2018 in the German Bundesliga.
Today, both companies can guarantee that the 14-gram light ball sensor works reliably even in demanding conditions and does not affect the flight and rotation behavior of the ball. Professional football players feel no difference to the conventional ball.
To record every ball movement in three dimensions, a network is installed around the match field. This captures the raw data in real time via ultra-wideband radio technology and uses triangulation and time-of-flight measurement to determine the position data. A processor then litigates this data, also live, into more than 50 statistics into the KINEXON software.
“The Final Piece of the Puzzle in Generating Sports-Specific Live Insights.”
Players are already being tracked using KINEXON’s real-time radio sensor-based technology for years. In the world’s most prestigious sports leagues, such as the German and U.S. professional leagues in football, basketball, handball and ice hockey, athletes wear KINEXON sensors under their jerseys to give coaches live insights into performance and load.“The ball adds the final piece of the puzzle in generating sports-specific live insights,” explains Maximilian Schmidt.
“After all, only those who analyze player behavior and performance in context to the position and movement of the ball can draw valid conclusions. This applies to both fitness and tactics. Complex, manual video analysis can be speed up or simplified many times over with the help of ball tracking.”
For this reason, innovative clubs such as Bayer 04 Leverkusen, VfL Wolfsburg or RB Leipzig already rely on live tracking of players and balls with KINEXON during training. Marcel Daum, Assistant Coach Analysis at Bayer 04 Leverkusen:
„Having the opportunity to get reliable live ball data during a match boosts our analysis options. Since the introduction of replaying scenes down at the bench, we can focus a lot more on our playing principles and see directly what’s happening. By having live ball data, we focus a lot more on specific scenes.”
SELECT Brillant Super iBall Is Ready for the Top Leagues
The SELECT Brillant Super iBall empowered by KINEXON is FIFA Quality Pro approved, which is the highest ranking for a football in the FIFA system. Only footballs that carry the FIFA Quality Pro label can be used in international matches organized by FIFA or the confederations. The new SELECT iBall has passed all the tests and is ready to be played with in professional leagues and cups around the world.
More stories
XPS Network and KINEXON Sports Announce New API Integration
A new connection brings KINEXON Sports player-tracking data into customizable XPS Reports, allowing coaches, performance staff and sports directors to access tracking data alongside the information they already use in XPS.
The Game Just Got More Connected: Connected Ball Technology Comes to LALIGA
Together with LALIGA and PUMA, KINEXON Sports is integrating real-time ball intelligence across every LALIGA EA SPORTS match, supporting officiating and creating new possibilities for broadcasts, analysis and fans.
KINEXON Sports Names Purdue’s Jason Kabo Newest Ambassador
KINEXON Sports welcomes Jason Kabo, Associate Head Strength Coach and Director of Men’s Basketball Strength & Conditioning at Purdue University, as the newest addition to the KINEXON Ambassador Program. As a member of the ambassador program, Kabo will help advance KINEXON performance tracking technology and share firsthand use cases coaches can integrate into their daily workflows.
KINEXON Sports Welcomes Prairie View A&M's Tommie Moore as Newest Ambassador
Director of Football Performance at Prairie View A&M University, Tommie Moore, joins the KINEXON Ambassador Program. As an ambassador, Moore will shape the development of firsthand use cases and educational materials for coaches to elevate player performance analysis and best practices.
Stanford’s Tyler Friedrich Joins KINEXON Sports Ambassador Program
Stanford University’s Tyler Friedrich joins the KINEXON Ambassador Program. He will be integrated into KINEXON Sports’ product development initiatives. Separately, he will support the creation of educational materials for coaches to implement data analytics into their daily athlete performance analysis workflows.
KINEXON Sports and Augsburger Panther Extend Partnership to Drive Performance Innovation in German Hockey
KINEXON Sports, a global leader in real-time athlete tracking and performance analytics, and the Augsburger Panther, one of Germany’s most tradition-rich ice hockey clubs, have extended their long-standing partnership for another three years.
KINEXON Sports and SkillCorner Bring NBA-Level Performance Intelligence to NCAA Basketball
KINEXON Sports & Media and Paris-based data company SkillCorner are proud to announce a strategic partnership to launch a next-generation performance analytics product for NCAA basketball programs. This collaboration marks the first time game-based physical data and performance insights from practices are unified in a single, cloud-based platform.
KINEXON Sports Supports Unrivaled Inaugural Season
KINEXON Sports, a global leader in sports performance tracking and analytics, announces its official provider relationship with Unrivaled, the groundbreaking women’s basketball league. Through the state-of-the-art KINEXON PERFORM LPS (Local Positioning System) solution, KINEXON technology will provide real-time data to support Unrivaled and its coaches with analytical insights.
KINEXON Sports and the Joe Gibbs Human Performance Institute Announce Groundbreaking Athlete Performance Innovation Partnership
KINEXON Sports, a global leader in sports tracking and performance analytics, has announced a strategic four-year partnership with the Joe Gibbs Human Performance Institute (JGHPI) to advance the science of athletic performance. This collaboration establishes JGHPI as KINEXON Sports’ “Official Innovation Hub”, integrating cutting-edge sports technology with advanced biomechanical research to refine athlete assessments, optimize training methodologies, and enhance injury risk reduction strategies.
European Handball Federation and KINEXON Sports Extend Partnership Until 2028 and Agree on Ambitious Development Roadmap
Munich, January 30, 2025 – The European Handball Federation (EHF) and KINEXON Sports are thrilled to announce the extension of their long-term partnership for an additional four EHF EURO tournaments. The new agreement, effective from 2025 to 2028, covers the integration of KINEXON real-time player and ball tracking technology at the Men’s EHF EURO 2026 and 2028, as well as the Women’s EHF EURO 2026 and 2028. The partnership features a visionary development roadmap aimed at advancing handball through the strategic use of data bring the experience for all stakeholders to the next level.
AI Software in Training: KINEXON Sports Further Expands Its Partnership With FC Bayern Basketball in the Field of Basketball Analytics
Munich, September 5, 2024 – KINEXON Sports, market leader in basketball performance tracking and analytics, is expanding its partnership with FC Bayern Basketball to include AI-based analysis software. The German champions will use the new innovation KINEXON COMPETE Vision from the 2024 – 25 season. This will automatically count and analyze all shots in training using state-of-the-art computer vision technology.
Zalgiris Kaunas' Tech Offensive: Lithuanian Record Champions Enter the Season with Three Analytics Products from KINEXON Sports
Munich, Germany — August 29, 2024 – Permanently installed LPS systems for high-end live data in training sessions and home games, a mobile IMU system for seamless load monitoring at home and away, and AI-based software for evaluating all shots in training. Zalgiris Kaunas is upgrading in a big way and relying on the market leader in basketball analytics.
KINEXON Sports Announces Basketball Analytics Partnership with Urspring Basketball Academy
Munich, Germany — July 25, 2024 — KINEXON Sports is teaming up with one of Germany’s top basketball academies, Urspring Basketball Academy, to revolutionize player development. With the cutting-edge KINEXON COMPETE Vision AI technology, players will now benefit from precise shot tracking and expert coaching insights. Learn more about how the next generation of champions is shaped by this partnership.
KINEXON Sports Announces Partnership with the Basketball Federation of Serbia
Munich, Germany — May 28, 2024 — KINEXON Sports, a global leader in sports performance technology, is pleased to announce a new partnership with the Basketball Federation of Serbia. This collaboration will see the implementation of the KINEXON COMPETE Vision solution, an advanced AI-driven shot tracking solution that enhances player development through precise shot statistics and coaching insights.
KINEXON Sports Announces Basketball Analytics Partnership with EuroLeague Team Panathinaikos BC AKTOR
Munich, Germany — May 23, 2024 - KINEXON Sports, a global leader in sports performance technology, is pleased to announce a new partnership with EuroLeague competitor Panathinaikos BC AKTOR- the most successful basketball club in Greece and Europe.