Can technology make sports more equal, or does it only widen the gap between competitors?
This post was written by a student. It has not been fact checked or edited.
Many people feel that sport is improving by the use of technology to make sports fairer.
VAR (video assistant referee) in football is improving accuracy from 82% to 96% and making football games fairer. It helps referees to give red and yellow cards to the
correct player. It observes the gameplay footage, checking goals and knowing if penalties were scored. It was used in major leagues and in FIFA tournaments.
Hawk-eye in tennis improves accuracy and helps to avoid human error. Most players have supported the idea of the decision to use hawk-eye in matches. Just like VAR, hawk-eye improves gameplay and makes matches fairer. The US removed all line referees and replaced them with hawk-eye because of how much it balances fairness.
In 2018, Halo was made for F1 racing due to many crashes and injuries before it was released. Henry Surtees died in 2009 from crashing during a race. It’s like a halo but made of titanium, connecting to the front and back but still giving the driver the view of the track. Halo saved Lewis Hamilton when a piece of debris flew at him in a recent Grand Prix.
In 2025, two Norwegian ski jumpers, Marius Lindvik and Johann Andre Forfang with three team officials, cheated by putting a reinforced thread in their jump suits. Both jumpers were disqualified after equipment inspection. Unfortunately, this is an example of when tech has been used illegally.
In my opinion, technology is improving fairness in sports and making it safer, but sometimes it could be used for cheating. Technology can be a huge advantage for richer teams than other less fortunate teams who can’t afford it. I feel that tech should be used the right way and not be used as a cheat device.
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