Referees at this year’s Club World Cup will be equipped with body cameras and instructed to implement new rules to cut down on time-wasting by goalkeepers, FIFA announced on Tuesday.
The use of the cameras will be on a trial basis after they were approved last month by IFAB, the sport’s lawmakers.
“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’s a combination of new experience for broadcasters and also for coaching purposes,” he added.
The 32-team competition in the United States will also attempt to crack down on time-wasting by goalkeepers, awarding a corner to the opposing team if they hold on to the ball beyond eight seconds.
The current rule states that ‘keepers are supposed to be sanctioned with an indirect free-kick if they hold on for more than six seconds.
However, the offence is rarely penalised.
The Club World Cup begins on June 14 and runs until July 13.
