FIFA to debut body cameras for referees at Club World Cup

Referee Esteban Ostojich points to the penalty spot after a VAR review and gives penalty to Brazil during a qualifying soccer match for the FIFA World Cup 2026 against Peru at Mane Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

FIFA unveiled its team of 117 match officials on Monday for the inaugural Club World Cup and said referees would wear body cameras and enforce stricter goalkeeper time-wasting rules at the tournament to be staged across the United States.

The FIFA Referees Committee appointed the officials from 41 member associations - 35 referees, 58 assistant referees and 24 video match officials - for the June 14 to July 13 event.

Body cameras will provide fans with unprecedented views of on-field action, FIFA said, while goalkeepers who hold the ball beyond eight seconds will now see opponents awarded corner kicks rather than indirect free kicks.

“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 Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee.

“It also has a purpose in terms of referee coaching because, of course, having the possibility to see what the referee sees is important in the debriefing.”

Collina highlighted the historic nature of the appointments for the expanded tournament featuring 32 teams from all six FIFA confederations and spanning 12 stadiums in 11 U.S. host cities.

“The selected referees are among those who have the privilege to be part of this for the first time, so I’m sure that all the match officials will be thrilled,” he said.

“We are coming from high-standard performances delivered during the last FIFA tournaments. So the bar is higher and when you set the bar higher it’s more difficult to keep the standard. But we are working very hard and ‘Team One’ will make a solid contribution to the success of this exciting competition.”

(Reporting by Ossian Shine; Editing by Ken Ferris)