HIBAPRESS-RABAT-FIFA
In line with the FIFA President’s Vision 2020-2023 to harness technology to improve football, players participating in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ will be able to gain insight into their performance on the pitch through the FIFA Player App, as announced by FIFA on September 23, 2022.
FIFA developed this app based on feedback from professional players and in collaboration with FIFPRO, the union representing professional footballers worldwide.
In a few months, the FIFA Player App will be used for the first time at a FIFA World Cup™.
The survey and the interviews carried out showed that players are very interested in data relating to their performance and wish to have easy access to this information. The FIFA Player App will allow each player to access their individual performance data shortly after matches. The data collected includes in particular:
• Advanced Football Data, built from Advanced Event Data – itself compiled by a team of highly qualified FIFA performance analysts – as well as tracking data. This may be, for example, the nature of the movements made by a player in order to receive the ball, the intensity of his pressing against the ball carrier or whether he has managed to break the opposing lines. The data collected is faithful to the definitions of the FIFA Football Glossary.
• Physical performance data, obtained through a highly accurate tracking system using multiple cameras placed around the pitch for optimal coverage of player movement. This information, highlighted on positional heatmaps, includes the distance traveled at different speed thresholds, the number of runs above 25 km/h as well as the maximum speed recorded.
• advanced football intelligence data, compiled by FIFA’s Performance and Trend Analysis team using algorithms and models capable of integrating and processing event and tracking data in real time . These new measurements make it possible to analyze football from a new angle, focusing in particular on the different phases of the game, the runs and passes that break the opposing lines, the areas where the ball is received and the pressure exerted on the ball carrier. .
A new direction for performance analysis
This data is then synchronized with match footage to allow players to review – from different angles – the key moments of their performance.
In addition, many photos of the key moments of each match will be made available to players. Players can save or share these photos – along with their match stats – to their social media accounts directly from the app.
They will also be able to access the FIFA Player App upon arrival in Qatar.
Successfully tested with players from different teams during the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup™, the FIFA Player App was introduced to the participating teams of the 2022 World Cup during the recent team seminar held in Doha.
Johannes Holzmüller, FIFA Football Technology Innovation Director, said: “For the first time at a FIFA World Cup, all players from participating teams will be able to directly access their performance data and the video footage that go with after each encounter. This player-centric evolution is the result of direct player feedback. This is yet another example of how FIFA is maximizing the potential of technology to improve the footballing experience for everyone on the pitch.”
This innovation is a first visible result of the collaboration between FIFA and FIFPRO aimed at developing standards and best practices for the collection, protection and use of individual player performance data. The two entities have notably collaborated on the development of a Player Data Rights Charter, with the aim of promoting these standards while transparently informing footballers of their rights with regard to the protection of their privacy. , in accordance with existing legislation such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Simon Colosimo, FIFPRO Deputy General Secretary, said: “Players have made it clear to us that they want to have better access to their data and derive more benefit from this collection. With the Player Data Rights Bill announced earlier this week, the FIFA Player App is a positive initiative that will enable personal data rights and provide a new resource for players participating in the FIFA World Cup. in Qatar.
The collaboration between FIFA and FIFPRO on the issue of player data should continue to benefit players in many areas, including health, performance, technology and match experience.”
One of the goals of FIFA’s Vision 2020-2023 is to harness technology to better serve football and footballers – and this includes how FIFA handles players’ personal data.
Proud to have the confidence of players in the processing of their data, FIFA and its teams work hard to ensure the security of everyone’s personal information.
Further information on how FIFA protects personal data is available on the FIFA Data Protection Portal and in the FIFA Pocket Guide – Data Protection, which deals in detail with data protection.