The Club World Cup this year wasn’t just about the soccer—it also showed off some awesome new referee tech! Pierluigi Collina, who is the boss of FIFA’s Referees Committee, said these new ideas made the tournament a huge success.
One of the coolest changes was putting body cameras on referees. This was the first big FIFA tournament where refs wore cameras, and it turned out even better than people expected. Collina said, “The ref cam gave everyone watching on TV a new point of view, and it really helps with referee training too.” Now fans can see what the referee sees, and it helps coaches explain why certain calls are made—or missed!
For example, in a match between Atletico Madrid and PSG, a ref missed a handball because his view was blocked. Thanks to the camera, everyone could see exactly why the ref didn’t spot it, and then the VAR team stepped in to fix the call.
Another change was a new rule for goalkeepers. If a goalie holds the ball for more than eight seconds, the other team now gets a corner kick (before, they got a free kick after six seconds). Collina said this made the game faster and stopped goalies from wasting time. Only two goalies were penalized with this new rule, so it worked really well!
There was also an upgrade to the offside technology. The new system made offside calls much quicker and helped keep the game moving without unnecessary delays.
Collina said all these changes made the tournament better for fans and players, and he’s excited to see how they keep improving soccer in the future!
“Beyond our expectations” 🎥
Pierluigi Collina, the Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, says that he is very happy with the refereeing innovations introduced at the @FIFACWC, including body cameras for referees, advanced semi-automated offside technology and the new… pic.twitter.com/7eK7TaMcLu
— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) July 10, 2025
