Published by Gbaf News
Posted on July 19, 2014
3 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
World Cup 2014 Delivers Most Future Facing Technology Of Any International Sporting Event To Date
Although the long-term economic impact of the tournament to Brazil is still yet to be confirmed, one thing is definite – the 2014 World Cup has delivered the most technologically advanced sporting experience of any large-scale event – globally. The innovation pioneered at the 2014 games has revolutionised the accuracy and efficiency of the sport itself, transforming the experience for players, stadium spectators and global observers, not to mention local communities and economies impacted by the $14billion event. Ranging from the World’s most advanced police safety suits, to apps that help visitors to Brazil to save money, a new research report from U-Start – the international tech’ investment advisory firm – details the innovation unveiled at the games, the majority of which has never been seen before.
The U-Start World Cup Road M’App – which includes an infographic and an in-depth research report – investigates each global contribution that has defined the 2014 iteration of the event, outlining the origin, concept and future facing impact of the technology. The research initiative analysed the technology in three sections: Innovation in Sport, Technology for Safety and Tech’ for the Experience.
Innovation in Sport: With goal-line technology coming from Germany, vanishing spray from Germany, an in-depth scouting application from England and the Brazuca ball technology produced in India, the players will be impacted by technology from around the world
U-Start – which specialises in partnering emerging market technology firms with Western investment – positions the innovation to emerge from global territories – as the core premise of its global offer. With €3.8bn in finance under management and seven worldwide locations, the firm champions a globally relevant, funding focused spotlight on emerging market technology, an objective the World Cup 2014 is sure to support.
Stefano Guidotti, U-Start CEO, said: “Across our network of international offices we know just how global the technology market is. We have witnessed first hand the quality of entrepreneurs to hail from both the emerging and developed markets and are delighted that the World Cup will showcase this fact to the world. There is no doubt that a sporting event of this magnitude is an ideal platform to champion technological innovation on a global scale, so we developed the Road M’App initiative to highlight it even further. The importance of technological development to safety, to the wow-factor and to the game of football itself is clear for all to see. Here at U-Start, we are not only confident the tech’ will leave a lasting impression on the home of our South American team in Brazil, but that it will change the way sporting events are experienced forever.”
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