FIFA World Cup 2022: Female referees, off-side technology, cooling equipment, everything new in Qatar
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The 2022 FIFA World Cup is the first to be held in November-December and will use cooling equipment to manage the temperature.
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Excitement is in the air as Qatar prepares to host the 2022 edition of the FIFA World Cup. Come 20 November, hosts Qatar will take on Ecuador in the inaugural match of the edition.
The upcoming edition of the FIFA World Cup will be the first to be held in the Middle-East region, as well as the first to be held during November-December, in between the regular domestic football calendar.
The showpiece tournament will feature 32 teams, with this being the final edition to feature 32 teams after FIFA announced that the 2026 edition would be expanded to 48 teams.
Defending champions France has been grouped with the likes of Denmark, Tunisia, and Australia. Group A consists of hosts Qatar, Netherlands, Senegal, and Ecuador.
This time around, with the World Cup being held during winter, there will be a few, new notable things being introduced, from each team having five substitutes to being able to name an expanded squad.
Let’s take a look at some of these in detail:
Tournament in November
None of the previous editions of the FIFA World Cup have been held between November-December. And the upcoming edition in Qatar will be the first to be held during winter.
Previous editions of the FIFA World Cup have usually taken place between June and July, i.e. during the summer of the Northern Hemisphere. However, during that timeframe in Qatar, temperatures could surge up to 50°C, and hence, the Qatar World Cup was shifted to the winter period.
The temperatures during the tournament are expected to be in a range between 14°C to 31°C.
Almost time for a new chapter in #FIFAWorldCup history to be written 📖🏆 pic.twitter.com/q9iHuM8dAP
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 13, 2022
Introduction of female referees
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Three women have been included among the 36 referees for the very first time during a men’s FIFA World Cup.
Stephanie Frappart of France, Yoshimi Yamashita from Japan, and Rwanda’s Salima Mukansanga will be the three new female referees during the 28-day event.
Apart from them, the trio of Kathryn Nesbitt, Karen Diaz Medina, and Neuza Back will also fly to Qatar after being named as three of the 69 assistant referees.
Five substitutes
For the first time in a men’s FIFA World Cup, teams will be permitted to make five substitutions, with this number increasing from three from the previous editions.
The five-substitutes rule was originally introduced during COVID-19 in a bid to protect the players from the pandemic, but in June this year, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) permanently approved five substitutions in all top-level competitions.
The increase in substitutions will also help the managers with more tactical clarity.
Expanded squads
Keeping in line with the five substitutions rule, teams are now been allowed to name 26-member squads for the FIFA World Cup, instead of 23 previously.
The same 26-member squads were followed during the European Championships and Copa America last year amid the coronavirus pandemic. FIFA said that the decision to expand squads from 23 to 26 was done because of the ‘unique timing’ of the upcoming edition.
The preliminary squads had also been expanded from 35 to 55 players.
New offside technology
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FIFA, in July this year, announced the usage of a semi-automated offside technology that would help in making more accurate offside decisions.
This new offside technology has been previously used in FIFA Arab Cup 2021 and the FIFA Club World Cup 2021.
According to Al Jazeera, this technology utilizes a sensor in the ball along with a limb-tracking camera system to help in monitoring players’ movements.
Moreover, the new technology will assist video match officials in making accurate verdicts in a very short amount of time.
Cooling technology
With the temperatures expected to vary between 14°C to 31°C, the stadiums in Qatar will be fitted with cooling equipment. The cooling technology will help maintain temperatures between 18-24°C, enabling the spectators to have a pleasant viewing experience.
Sensors will maintain the temperatures in the stadium, and will also change airflows for the seats either in the sun or shade.
The technology will use solar energy powering fans that extract outside air and cool it.