AI, The New Player in the World Cup
Earlier this year, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Lenovo Chairman and CEO Yuanqing Yang announced a collaboration to bring these tools to both the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Women's World Cup.
The set of initiatives is presented under the name "Football AI" and revolves around three main components: the Football AI Pro analysis tool, the players' 3D avatars, and a new version of Referee View.
Football AI Pro: A generative-AI assistant designed to support each of the teams, with the aim that all of them have access to the same analytical capabilities before and after matches. The results are delivered in different formats: graphics, video, and text.
3D avatars: Geared toward offside detection. Each player is digitally scanned to build a model that allows them to be tracked more precisely during fast movements or when the view is obstructed.
Referee View: It builds on the initial trial carried out at the first FIFA Club World Cup. Through AI-powered stabilization software, the footage captured by the referee's camera is smoothed in real time to reduce the effect of the abrupt movement that comes with the speed of play.
To this is added the use of AI in the tournament's general operations, described as a challenge given the number of teams and the organization spread across three countries. For this, an "Intelligent Command Center" is envisioned, designed to support FIFA's functional areas and to generate real-time monitoring and daily summaries.
Legal perspective
The arrival of AI at an event of this magnitude represents an important step in the history of sports technology, but it also opens new ground where several areas of the law intersect and are worth keeping in mind, such as players' image rights, personal data protection, intellectual property, and, as the instrument that ties it all together, contracts.
In practice, the scope and limits of each of these uses end up depending on how the agreements between the parties are drafted: what is authorized, for what, for how long, and under which law.
The FIFA 2026 World Cup also serves as a new benchmark for how prepared our legal frameworks are to keep pace with this technology. In the sports industry, as well as in the entertainment industry more broadly, the conversation on these topics is only just beginning.
