

FIFA has confirmed that referees at the 2025 Club World Cup will wear body cameras.
The use of body cameras at the tournament will be on a trial basis, and Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA referees committee, said it would offer broadcast viewers a “new experience”.
In March, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the game’s law makers, confirmed it approved of FIFA testing the technology in competitions to “identify possible future use and develop quality and safety standards”. World football’s governing body stated its intention to use body cameras at the Club World Cup as part of live match transmission.
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“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,” said Collina. “It also has a purpose in terms of referee coaching. Because 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. So it’s a combination of new experience for broadcasters and also for coaching purposes.”
Referee body cameras were first trialled in English grassroots football in 2023 with the aim of improving behaviour and respect from players and supporters towards match officials.
FIFA described the grassroots testing as “successful”, adding the technology “should be further tested and promoted given its positive impact on player behaviour”.
Jarred Gillett became the first Premier League referee to wear a body camera during last season’s fixture between Crystal Palace and Manchester United in May. The footage was not made available for immediate broadcast and was described as a “one off” for a programme promoting match officials. The technology has also been trialled in the Bundesliga.
FIFA also announced the new law change that aims to prevent goalkeepers from time-wasting will be introduced for the Club World Cup.
Referees will award corners, not indirect free-kicks, if goalkeepers try to waste time by holding onto the ball for more than eight seconds.
IFAB confirmed in March that the tweak to the law was set to be introduced from next season. It has already been trialled in youth leagues in England and Italy, and Malta’s top flight this season, with referees using a visual five-second countdown to indicate to goalkeepers that they are on the clock.
The Club World Cup takes place in the United States between June 14 and July 13.
(Getty Images/Getty Images for Reveal Media)
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