FIFA is asking the producers of wearable sports trackers to disclose their technologies, as it looks to create a standard for wearables in world football.
At the moment there are a host of different brands providing electronic performance and tracking systems (EPTS) systems for big teams, including STATsports and Catapult.
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The use of wearable EPTS systems was only ratified by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) earlier this year. Now it seems it wants to go further by making sure that teams aren't getting an unfair advantage by using systems unavailable to other clubs.
At present teams aren't allowed to use EPTS systems during a match unless it has preventative medical benefits and isn't a danger to other players. By creating a standard, it could mean wearable tech is opened up to live games, which in turn could mean new opportunities for broadcasting, with fans able to access in-depth player analytics.
That's all a long way off – and in the shorter term it could mean that some of the giants of the sports wearable industry could be in trouble. If world football freezes out one of Catapult or STATsports, other sporting bodies could follow its lead.
However, given that FIFA wasn't even able to create a single standard for goal line technology and it's still not implemented in the Champion's League, let's not hold out much hope for unity over wearable tech.
Source: Sport Techie
How we test
James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.