Referees at this year’s Club World Cup will wear body cameras and enforce new rules aimed at reducing time-wasting by goalkeepers, FIFA announced on Tuesday, April 8. The body cameras will be introduced on a trial basis following approval last month by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the sport’s global lawmaking body.
Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA referees committee, said the initiative would provide a fresh perspective for fans and serve as a valuable tool for coaching and referee training. “We think that it is a good chance to offer the viewers a new experience, in terms of images taken from a perspective, from an angle of vision which was never offered before,” he said. “It’s a combination of new experience for broadcasters and also for coaching purposes.”
Collina emphasized the potential of the cameras to enhance referee evaluations. “Having the possibility to see what the referee sees is important in the debriefing, to evaluate how the call was made by the referee, which was his view, and so on,” he added.
The tournament, set to feature 32 teams and be hosted in the United States from June 14 to July 13, will also see stricter enforcement against time-wasting. Under the new directive, if a goalkeeper holds the ball for more than eight seconds, the opposing team will be awarded a corner kick.
Currently, goalkeepers are technically required to release the ball within six seconds, with violations punishable by an indirect free-kick. However, that rule is seldom enforced. The new approach aims to promote faster play and maintain the flow of the game.