Club World Cup refs to wear eye-level cameras but it's what FIFA won't show that's most telling

MIAMI (AP) — Referees at the Club World Cup will wear eye-level cameras to finally allow fans to see exactly what the officials are looking at during a soccer match.

Well... not quite.

FIFA has announced the innovation will be implemented at its newly-expanded tournament, which kicks off in Miami on Saturday. But on closer inspection, the technology appears to be more about improving the experience for television viewers than improving the game.

For instance, only “non-controversial” images will be shown during the match. FIFA has not specified what that means, but don't look for goal-scoring incidents and potential red cards to be included.

The camera will be attached to the referee's earpiece.

“It is a trial,” Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA referees committee, said Wednesday. "What will be the future? We will see.

“We have said that we want to, let’s say, offer a new experience to TV viewers. We want to show something, let’s say, entertaining. I don’t think that we always need to think of the controversial or potentially controversial incidents on the field of play.”

Footage will be checked before being broadcast, rather than shown live.

FIFA says the refcam view could be used to show unique angles of goals scored and offer different perspectives of the game that normal cameras cannot see. But if restricted to that, it would appear to be a missed opportunity in a sport that is increasingly using advances in technology to improve the accuracy and transparency of decision-making.

Another innovation at the Club World Cup — a month-long tournament staged in the United States and featuring 32 of the best soccer teams in the world — is to show footage being reviewed by VAR for the first time on big screens inside the stadium. In theory, the refcam would make referees more accountable for their decisions by allowing fans to see exactly what the official saw before making a call.

But it is not even clear how much it would be used to help VAR.

While Collina said all footage would be available to the VAR, he questioned how useful the refcam would be in such circumstances.

“Honestly, can you believe that a camera position just besides the referee’s eyes can see something that the referee’s eyes cannot see? Honestly, I think it’s difficult to believe,” he said.

FIFA, itself, has made clear where it believes the footage would be of most use, saying the test was designed to “explore whether the new camera angle can improve the experience for those watching on television and online by showcasing the referee’s perspective.”

It added that the tests would be used to make guidelines for future use.

“Step by step” Collina said. "We need to do something new and the simpler the better."

FIFA also announced a clampdown on time wasting by goalkeepers at the Club World Cup.

Previous rules specified keepers can't hold onto the ball for longer than six seconds, but Collina said that was frequently being flouted.

The time limit has now been extended to eight seconds, but referees will be much stricter in enforcement.

The referee will also count down from five seconds with their hand to indicate the time remaining. If a keeper holds onto the ball for longer than eight seconds, a corner kick will be awarded to the opposition, rather than an indirect free kick, which was the previous punishment.

James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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Chilean players appeal to Uruguayan referee Esteban Ostojich, right, during a qualifying soccer match against Bolivia for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in El Alto, Bolivia, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Referee Viktor Shimusik shows a yellow card to Azerbaijan's Tural Bayramov during an international friendly soccer match at Dalga Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo)

FILE - Chairman of the FIFA referees committee Pierluigi Collina reacts at a press conference of the FIFA referees at the World Cup media center in Doha, Qatar, Friday, Nov. 18, 2022.(AP Photo/Martin Meissner, file)

FILE - Referee Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea watches the VAR during the Spanish Copa del Rey final soccer match between Barcelona and Real Madrid at Estadio de La Cartuja stadium in Seville, Spain, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton, file)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)