At the upcoming Club World Cup, referees will wear cameras on their bodies and a new form of offside technology will be introduced. FIFA announced this on Friday.
In addition to the so-called bodycams and the new offside technology, fans in the stadium can listen live to the decisions the referee makes when he is sent to the screen by the VAR.
The substitution process will also be modernized. Both teams will receive a tablet to pass on substitutions to the fourth official instead of a paper form.
The semi-automatic offside technology uses several cameras, a sensor in the ball and artificial intelligence that maps the position of players and the ball.
If there is a clear offside, the assistant referee will receive a signal. In cases of doubt, the instruction to let the game continue still applies.
Referees to be followed live on television
The referees’ bodycams will be used by the official broadcast partner DAZN. People can watch live directly from the referee’s position.
“These new innovations are primarily intended to make referees’ decisions more transparent and understandable for the fans,” said referee boss Pierluigi Collina at the announcement of the new technologies.
The Club World Cup starts next Sunday and will be held in the United States. It is the first time that 32 teams will participate in the tournament.