In focus at Fifa World Cup, tech is at play on Indian sports fields too

From AI-driven cameras to websites and apps that log and help analyse data

“Today, when photographers give the players pictures, it is for social media,” Renedy Singh laughs. “But when I was playing, on the rare occasion that we got pictures, it was mostly used for self-reflection and analysis, to check our positioning, technique etc.”

Renedy, a former Indian football captain and currently the technical director at the Classic Football Academy in Imphal, is among the best of a new generation of coaches in India today. Analysis and fault-redressal are a key part of his job, assisting which are innovations in technology.

While Classic academy’s modest budgets do not allow for high-grade tech