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FIFA has announced its referees will be wearing body cameras during the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in a step toward using the cameras for live match broadcasts as well as to help train referees. The move comes after the cameras were approved for use on a trial basis by the International Football Association Board to "identify possible future use and develop quality and safety standards."

The body cameras, which offer a first-person view of what the referee sees, will be integrated into the broadcasts of the Club World Cup games, and they will also be used as a tool for referee coaching and training. With the use of the cameras, fans as well as FIFA officials will be able to get a direct idea of what the referee saw and what influenced their calls.

"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 chair of the FIFA Referees' Committee Pierluigi Collina, emphasising it was a trial. "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, to evaluate how the call was made by the referee, which was his view, and so on. So it's a combination of new experience for broadcasters and also for coaching purposes."

Referee cameras come to the Club World Cup after being piloted in English grassroots football, where they were introduced in 2023 as a means of improving conduct toward referees from players and supporters. The cameras made their way to the Premiere League last season, as they were worn by a referee during a fixture between Crystal Palace and Manchester United, and they have also been tried in Bundesliga.

FIFA has also announced a rule change for the Club World Cup, as the referees will now award corners instead of indirect free-kicks if a goalie attempts to waste time by holding onto the ball for more than eight seconds.