Technological assistance in highly competitive sports for referee decision making: A systematic literature review

Introduction: during the last decade, it has become evident that the impact of a referee’s decision in professional sports turns out to be a turning point in the outcome of a competition, often generating discomfort among fans and competitors. It is for this reason that technological assistants were implemented in sports to help in referee decision making. Objective: review and analyze those technological solutions based on the use of artificial intelligence techniques capable of serving as technological assistants in support of referee decision-making in highly competitive professional sports. Method: the PICO methodology was used for the selection process of scientific publications of the PRISMA declaration. Finding 21 scientific publications extracted from the SCOPUS database that comply with the proposed guidelines, which were reviewed and analyzed to obtain information with added value. Results: it was found that the proposed technological assistants reached a level of precision greater than 90 % in certain sports. Likewise, those limitations were found that reduce the operational quality of these solutions. As found those algorithms, models, methods and approaches of artificial intelligence most used and recommended for future research studies. Conclusions: in conclusion, the implementation of technological assistants based on artificial intelligence in referee decision making in professional sports has proven to be an effective tool, achieving significant levels of precision.