Sports slow off the starting block in Malaysia’s digital race

Sports slow off the starting block in Malaysia’s digital race
"Sports slow off the starting block in Malaysia’s digital race"

The familiar face is often seen in the stands, usually armed with a bag of chips in his hand while watching young players impress on the pitch.

At times, he reviews YouTube videos of players based abroad, hoping to find that one gem who would be suitable to play for a football club in some other part of the globe. That is the typical routine of a talent scout, and it has been so for decades.

However, all that has changed in recent times – thanks to the rise of technology. Artificial intelligence (AI) and other new technologies are changing the way people work, with the ultimate goal of enhancing productivity.

One such company is a London-based tech firm that owns aiScout – an online application that allows footballers to join virtual trials for clubs by uploading self-recorded footage of themselves completing a series of drills. The application currently has two English Premier League partners, Chelsea and Burnley. This means talent scouts can get all the data they need from the comfort of their homes or offices. What’s even more interesting is that such an application, armed with the right amount of data, can narrow down results to find the best player to suit a particular team. It’s mathematical, based on statistics. No emotions or elements of bias.

Besides monitoring athletes’ performances, AI is also used to enhance fan engagement. According to market research firm Grand View Research, the global market for sports analytics was valued at US$2.7 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow by 22 per cent by the end of the decade.

Is Malaysian sport ready for AI?

Southeast Asia has been hitting the headlines for the right reasons, thanks to the thriving digital economy. According to a bottom-up model developed by Boston Consulting Group, Asean’s digital economy is projected to triple by the end of the decade through the natural adoption of digital technologies, growing from approximately US$300 billion to almost US$1 trillion by 2030.

Malaysia is in the thick of this digital race, evident in the series of billion-dollar investments by tech giants in recent months. Putrajaya has projected that the digital economy will contribute 25.5 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product by the end of 2025.

But as various industries, and even government agencies, discuss and deliberate AI and data, the Malaysian sports scene seems aloof about digitalisation.

Perhaps the stakeholders in Malaysia’s sports ecosystem believe going digital is simply flooding their social media pages with feel-good images, accompanied by captions that will leave one with more questions than answers.

A good example of this is an Oct 4 posting by the Youth and Sports Ministry on X. It stated that its minister, Hannah Yeoh, led a Malaysian delegation to the 3rd Asian Cooperation Dialogue Summit in Doha, and that she had “presented the nation’s statement focusing on sports diplomacy”.

There was no elaboration on what the statement was about. It also raised eyebrows over the ministry’s sports diplomacy initiatives – a subject barely spoken about in the country.

The basic concept of digitalisation would be a website. Yet, the National Sports Vision (VSN) 2030 website remains offline. Prior to being offline, the VSN2030 website was last updated in 2022, as documented by this news website earlier this year.

Will NSAs adopt new technology?

Two major challenges are often associated with the adoption of new technology – having the right talents and the financial capability. Most small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face such woes, and the same can be said for national sports associations in Malaysia that often depend on financial assistance from the government.

Budget 2025, which will be tabled tomorrow, may see allocations for digital adoption, and hopefully there will be some form of incentive to digitalise the nation’s sports industry.

However, some wonder if national coaches and administrators are ready to talk digital. Would national hockey coach Sarjit Singh, for example, use AI to analyse his players? Would the key officials at the FA of Malaysia sit in for a session to explore the use of the metaverse to transform the future of sports fan interaction?

So, where does Malaysian sport begin?

For starters, the guardians of the respective sports should take the initiative to embrace the digital world we live in and contribute to the nation’s digital economy. Beef up their online presence not just with pretty pictures, but with valuable data and information.

Coaches and sports administrators should not fear technology but use it to understand their opponents better, enhance their athletes’ performances, and even optimise their athletes’ recovery. Some efforts are already seen through the National Sports Institute, and more should be done to promote the usage of such technology across the board.

Another equally important aspect is finding ways to digitalise the entire fan experience, given the different viewing patterns of today’s generation.

Being the guardians of their respective sports, the national sports associations can work closely with the Education Ministry, Higher Education Ministry, private schools, international schools, and clubs to gather the total number of active players across all ages, and data related to them. This huge database will eventually make the scouting system more efficient, ensuring no one falls outside the talent radar.

Someone has got to get the digital ball rolling, or Malaysian sports will continue to be oblivious to how far the world of sports has progressed and evolved in this digital era.