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maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 8 AUGUST 2018 21 OLYMPICS Hockenheim believes it can still grab a place on the 2019 Formula 1 calendar, helped by the success of this year's German Grand Prix TOKYO 2020 will be the first Olympics to use facial recog- nition technology to increase security around all venues, the organisers announced yesterday. Games organisers have linked up with Japanese tel- ecommunications and infor- mation technology giant NEC to develop the first system of this kind to be implemented at an Olympics. The technology, which was demonstrated to the media at an event in the Japanese capi- tal, will use IC chips within identification cards to auto- matically verify the identity of those entering over 40 venues. More than 300,000 athletes and Games staff will have to submit photographs to a data- base before the Olympics start in July 2020. "Every time they enter the facility, they have to do a se- curity check," explained To- kyo 2020's head of security Tsuyoshi Iwashita. "Tokyo's venues doesn't al- ways have enough space for the security check or even space to wait for the secu- rity check. When the events are happening, we expect many people to come and the weather will be very hot. This is why we introduced this fa- cial recognition." The system will not be aimed at spectators and will instead concentrate on strengthening security and decreasing wait- ing times for athletes. "More than 40 facilities, in- cluding the main stadium, In- ternational Broadcast Centre, the Olympic village and so on, will have the facial recogni- tion system," said NEC Senior Vice President Masaaki Suga- numa. "Athletes, Games staff, vol- unteers and the media will have this recognition." NEC said they tested the technology during the Rio 2016 Olympics and that the technology has already been implemented in various loca- tions, including airports. During the demonstration to media, the technology cor- rectly identified a string of people, including those in wheelchairs and of varying heights, which is a key feature of NEC's system. Suanuma said: "99.7 percent of the time, the face is recog- nised by the system correctly. "This number will not change according to national- ity or if big or small." Tokyo 2020 to up security with facial recognition system Surprise German GP crowd boosts Hockenheim's 2019 F1 calendar hopes DESPITE the success of Mer- cedes and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel driving for Ferrari, the Ger- man GP has struggled to es- tablish itself as a popular and financially viable race in re- cent years. Hockenheim and the Nur- burgring alternated the GP from 2008-13 but it has been a biennial race since '14 as the Nurburgring's financial situa- tion grew worse. However, this year's race at Hockenheim was a surprise success, with 71,000 race day fans around 20% above the average of the five F1 races it has held over the last 10 years. While the Nurburgring is not pursuing negotiations with Liberty over holding a race next year, Hockenheim may yet be able to host its first back-to-back GPs since the 2005/06 seasons. "Logically, we're negotiat- ing," Hockenheim boss Georg Seiler told Autosport. "We have not written off Formula 1. We want Formula 1." Liberty has delayed a Mi- ami Grand Prix to 2020 at the earliest, while talk has cooled over another potential new race in Vietnam. While Liberty has never ex- pressed a desire or need to have 21 races or more, mean- ing the calendar may shrink to 20 next year after all, its in- terest in new venues meant it was considering an expanded schedule. With those new races not happening, Germany could find a place for 2019 without presenting a new logistical challenge. But Seiler made it clear he would not want the race to be a stop-gap. "Our intention is not to step into the breach just because a place is available in the calen- dar in 2019," he said. "We would like to bring about a long-term solution". F1 commercial chief Sean Bratches told Reuters after last month's race at Hocken- heim that it was still keen on a German race but said Germa- ny, Britain and Austria posed unique challenges because they are not underpinned by government support. Germany's minister of trans- portation Andreas Scheuer (CSU) was part of discussions during the race weekend, but such support exists on a sym- bolic level. While it presented a mes- sage to Liberty that the coun- try cares about F1, there will be no public funds for the grand prix. "We're not ready to wave the white flag yet on Germa- ny for 2019," said Bratches. "Everybody's interested in making a deal. And there's multiple circuits in this won- derful country." While that is true, Hocken- heim appears the only realis- tic option for a grand prix. The Nurburgring is not in a position to commit to F1's hosting fees long-term, al- though it retains its desire to have a grand prix and even floated the possibility of a race on the Nordschleife. Other circuits like Oscher- sleben and Lausitzring are not A-list venues, while the Sachsenring is a bike circuit. Formula E has pulled off a race in Berlin, but that was scotched after just one year and the electric single-seat- er series had to return to its original German home on an apron at the disused Berlin Tempelhof airport facility. FORMULA 1