Football governing body, FIFA, has developed the new FIFA Player App, which provides athletes with the chance to view their own key data during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The app gives athletes insights into their performances with data collected by FIFA and it available to view shortly after the matches.
The app has been built based on input from athletes and in collaboration with football’s global representative of professional athletes, FIFPRO, with surveys and interviews suggesting athletes are interested in performance data.
The data the app tracks includes:
- Enhanced football data metrics, including whether a player made an offer or movement to receive the ball, their distribution action broke opposition lines, and the pressure they applied to an opponent in possession on the ball.
- Physical football metrics, including distance covered, number of actions above 25km/h, maximum speed and positional heat maps.
- Enhanced football intelligence metrics, including line breakings and receiving locations.
The data will be synchronized with match footage so athletes can review their key moments using different camera angles, with photos also available through the app for athletes to share to social media.
After a successful trial at the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup, the FIFA Player App will be available to athletes as they arrive in Qatar for the tournament beginning 20 November.
Commenting on the new app, FIFA director of football technology and innovation, Johannes Holzmuller, said: “The player-centric development is based on direct feedback from the players and is another great example of how FIFA is using technology to the best of it’s potential by improving the football experience for the key actors o the pitch.”
FIFPRO deputy general secretary, Simon Colosimo, added: “Players have clearly articulated to us that they want more access and benefit from the collection of their data.”
“In combination with the Charter of Player Data Rights announced earlier this week, the FIFA Player App is a positive outcome that will activate personal data rights and provide a new resource for players at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
“We expect the joint work between FIFA and FIFPRO on player data to continue across a wide range of areas, including health and performance, in-game technology and matchday experience,” he said.
The news comes after FIFA announced a broadcast deal with IMG to carry games on planes and ships throughout the tournament.
