FIFA is considering introducing new refereeing technologies and stricter timekeeping rules for the 2026 World Cup as it looks to build on tests carried out at this year’s Club World Cup in the United States, senior officials said on the eve of the World Cup draw.
Johannes Holzmueller, FIFA’s director of innovation, said the governing body wanted to expand the use of a referee’s body camera system and an advanced version of semi-automatic offside, both tested at the Club World Cup, but would first need regulatory approval.
“We want to build on the success of this year’s FIFA Club World Cup in the US, where we trialled the referee’s body camera with great success,” Holzmueller said on a panel on Thursday.
He said, by adding the system brand ‘referee with you’ – placing images in the live television feed and on giant screens in the stadium to show spectators ‘what the referee saw in that special moment’.
“That’s certainly something we want to bring forward,” he said. «But of course… so far it has been a trial. We have to get the approvals so that we can bring that to the World Cup.»
Any rule changes would have to be approved by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) at its meeting in Wales in February.
Holzmueller said FIFA had also quietly developed its semi-automated offside technology during the Club World Cup by sending certain offside warnings directly to assistant referees rather than just the video assistant referee (VAR), reducing delays.
“For positional offside, the information was sent via an audio alert directly to the assistant referee… and they were able to raise the flag,” he said.
“So we didn’t really have any more delays due to positional offside.”
He rejected the idea that technology was creating a new version of the sport, arguing that it instead restored the traditional flow of the game.
“For us it is always a balance between what we can improve and what the tradition of our sport is,” he said.
“Technology can help support the referees, but also coaches, medical staff, fans… without changing the game.”
Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA Refereeing Committee, said the changes to how long goalkeepers could hold the ball, announced by IFAB last March, were aimed at speeding up play after FIFA found some goalkeepers were taking as long as 25 seconds.
“We have given the goalkeepers two seconds left… But they have to be 100% sure that once the eight seconds are up, the referee will intervene,” he said.
Comparing the current refereeing environment to his own World Cup experiences, Collina said the level of support and accuracy now available to match officials was “night and day”.
The 2026 World Cup, to be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada, will take place in Washington on Friday.
Published on December 5, 2025
