World football’s governing body invited representatives from more than 60 companies to Zurich
Technological trends and possible opportunities for the future of football were identified as part of a workshop
Marco van Basten: "We don’t want to change the game, we want to improve it."
“It is important for FIFA to work together with the football industry and academic institutions to develop, test and implement new ideas. Our aim is to support coaches and referees and thus help to maintain the game’s appeal and make it fairer. However, it is important to understand that we do not want to change the fundamental values of our sport.”
With these words, FIFA Chief Officer for Technical Development Marco van Basten welcomed over 100 representatives from the football industry as they gathered for a workshop at FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich.
The aim of the meeting was to exchange views with technology providers and manufacturers from different areas of the football sector and give them the opportunity to present their views about the development of global quality standards, the research required for the FIFA Quality Programme and future cooperation with world football’s governing body.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino previously stressed his desire to let the game grow and perfect the experience for all parties in his FIFA 2.0 vision, saying: "FIFA will use technological advances to improve the quality of the game, from the development of players on the pitch and communication with fans at home to the optimisation of competitions."
The workshop followed up on this vision by providing an opportunity for representatives from different sectors of the industry to shed light on the introduction of video assistant referees and the possibility of real-time data transmission – two technologies that, together with goal-line technology, will be used at the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ in Russia.
The meeting also focused on potential synergies. Current direct collaborations include the performance tracking systems and ball technology as well as the effects that implementing goal-line technology or video assistant referees could have on the playing area, such as exact pitch dimensions.
"FIFA is keen to foster an open dialogue with representatives from the football industry," said Johannes Holzmuller, Head of Football Technology & Innovation at FIFA. "The aim is to work closely together to improve the game for everyone."