Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.47960/3029-3103.2025.11.109
USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR THE EVALUATION OF FOOTBALL PLAYERS' PERFORMANCE AND PUBLICATION IN DIGITAL MEDIA: THE CASE OF SOFASCORE
Vedran Biokšić
; University of Mostar, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Anita Glibić
; University of Mostar, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Nino Ćorić
; University of Mostar, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Abstract
Sport, especially football, is a social phenomenon that attracts millions of athletes
and even more fans. Sports journalism, as a distinct branch of journalism, re-
ports on sporting events, competitions, athletes, and teams. It includes analyses,
commentaries, interviews, and investigations aimed at informing, educating, and
entertaining the audience.
Such journalism plays a key role in informing fans and football enthusiasts about
the latest events, match results, and the performance of individual players. Tra-
ditionally, journalists relied on their subjective assessments and analyses when
evaluating players' performance. However, with the development of artificial in-
telligence, an increasing number of media platforms are using automated systems
to evaluate football players’ performance, such as the SofaScore application. This
app uses complex algorithms to analyze various aspects of a player’s game, inclu-
ding statistics, field position, key actions, and impact on the outcome.
This paper offers new insights into changes in sports journalism resulting from
the application of artificial intelligence. The aim of the paper is to explore and
analyze the use of artificial intelligence in sports analytics and journalism, with
a focus on its role in evaluating football players’ performance. It is based on an
analysis of the use of artificial intelligence in sports analytics and journalism
through a review of available literature, case studies, and a comparative analysis
of tools such as SofaScore. A qualitative analysis method was used to determine
the extent and manner in which AI-generated applications are used on the five
most-read news portals in Croatia.
The hypothesis of this paper is: "Artificial intelligence is actively used in sports
analytics and journalism, enhancing the process of sports reporting and the eva-
luation of athletes’ performance."
Keywords
artificial intelligence (AI); sports journalism; football; football players’ performance.
Hrčak ID:
351369
URI
Publication date:
1.7.2025.
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