Federation of International Football Association FIFA has announced that referees at this year’s Club World Cup will wear body cameras for the first time, as part of a new trial which aimed at enhancing transparency and viewer experience.
The tournament will take place at United States from June 14 to July 13 and it will featured 32 teams.
According to Pierluigi Collina, chairman of FIFA’s referees committee, the initiative follows recent approval by IFAB, football’s governing body for rules, the body cameras are intended to provide a unique perspective for fans and serve as a valuable tool for coaching and referee analysis.
“We believe this is a great opportunity to give viewers a fresh visual experience—one that shows the game from the referee’s point of view,” said Collina. “It also has great potential for post-match debriefs, helping to assess decisions based on what the referee actually saw.”
With the the camera trial, FIFA will also introduce a new rule targeting goalkeeper time-wasting. Under the revised regulation, if a goalkeeper holds onto the ball for more than eight seconds, the opposing team will be awarded a corner kick. This change aims to address delays in play, replacing the rarely enforced six-second rule that currently calls for an indirect free kick.
These innovations by FIFA governing body mark a broader effort to modernize and popularize the game and improve both fairness and the viewing experience.
