This summer, every player at the World Cup will have their own physically accurate “AI avatar” that will be utilized to make video assistant referee (VAR) decisions.
Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, announced the innovation which is part of new technological measures announced for the event. The avatars will involve every player being digitally scanned and will leave the possibility of size mattering in offside calls, Infantino said during a keynote appearance at the Consumer Electronic Show in Law Vegas.
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He also described the upcoming World Cup as “the greatest show ever on planet Earth,” with 104 matches across the US, Canada, and Mexico. The AI avatars will “ensure” that more accurate offside decisions will be made, according to Infantino.
“AI-enabled 3D avatars will ensure precise player identification and tracking. This is a big advancement in semi-automated offside technology, providing great images, faster decisions, and a clear understanding by everyone.”
Semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) is an extension of the protocols that automate key elements of the offside decision-making process for the VAR, according to the Guardian.
Within the Premier League, SAOT involves 30 cameras that identify the position of the ball and can track up to 10,000 data points on a player’s location. Within that technology, the graphical models used to reach those decisions don’t match with a player’s actual size.
Now, the addition of the personalized avatars will provide a higher level of precision and speed when it comes to decision making. Fifa believes that the avatars will allow “the system to track players reliably during fast or obstructed movements.”
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The player-specific dimensions will allow for personalized offside decisions. On the other end, some experts worry about the accuracy, and if a taller player would be more likely to be caught offside over their shorter counterparts.
According to Fifa, however, every single player will be scanned before the World Cup to create the 3D models. Each scan will take only about one second to “capture highly accurate body-part dimensions.”
Paul MacInnes wrote that “these models will then be used by VAR in calculating offside via SAOT and Fifa intends that the models be incorporated into TV coverage.”
This way, decisions can be “displayed more realistically and in a more engaging way to fans at stadiums and to viewers around the world.”
Infantino concluded:
“The Fifa World Cup in 2026 is going to be the greatest show ever on planet Earth. Seven million people will attend the 104 matches – 104 Super Bowls – dozens of millions of fans will travel to North America to feel the Fifa World Cup vibe, six billion people will watch it from home, and the world will stand still.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
