Tuesday 08 October 2019, 22:00

Request for information for the provision of a Local Positioning System (LPS) infrastructure

Data is now a well-established commodity in the football landscape. 

Through a number of channels, teams and many other stakeholders aim to access their own and their opponents’ players event and tracking match data. While FIFA provides teams with data from Optical Tracking Systems (OTS) and official event data at its tournaments, the use of wearable devices by individual teams has been on the rise for a number of reasons ranging from consistent data collection to more physical data on the players.

Project With specific focus on real-time availability and data compatibility with the other collected data sets, this RFI focusses on determining the technical possibilities for a state-of-the-art stadium infrastructure allowing local positioning systems to operate. This call for information is for Local Positioning Systems (LPS) and parts thereof since previous tests have shown their higher reliability in comparison to other wearable solutions. The vision is an agnostic network capable of interacting with a number of different systems with a selection of one particular technology type or even a provider viable alternatives.

Requirements Based on what FIFA believe to be state-of-the-art of such technologies today, minimum requirements for the hardware setup require:

  • Uninterrupted coverage of the full pitch + 1 meter (to include the assistant referee’s position)

  • Low-latency transfer of player data into a customized API

  • Fixed installation that runs autonomously

  • Redundancy on all levels

The minimum expectations for player tags in an LPS system would be the transfer of positional data (tracking data) with additional IMU data in real-time for all participants on the field (players & match officials). Any additional capabilities around tracking of further people, objects (TV cameras, referee systems) and solutions are of interest provided they add value for the performance analysis and can help teams and match officials improve the game. For infrastructure providers that do not offer their own tags (or for those who do but open their network to third party providers), an understanding of how the data would be transferred within the system should be provided.

Process Providers should present their solution to FIFA as per the timeline below. Part of the tender process is the option of demonstrating the offered solutions in a live scenario. Please contact technology@fifa.org in case you are interested in participating in this tender and would like to receive the official RFI document.

Timeline

DatesMilestones
31 October 2019Confirmation of intent to partake and submission of questions
Until 15 November 2019Clarification of all questions by FIFA. Please note that questions and answers will be anonymized and distributed to all bidders
29 November 2019Deadline for submission
December 2019 – January 2020Presentation at Home of FIFA, by video-conference or on-site demonstrations
Q2 2020 (subject to change)Planned RFP for provider(s) in FIFA tournaments