FIFA’s AI Digital Twins Spark Privacy Debate at 2026 World Cup

FIFA has introduced one of the most advanced uses of artificial intelligence in sports at the 2026 FIFA World Cup by creating millimeter-accurate digital twins for more than 1,200 players before the tournament began. Developed in partnership with Lenovo and Football Technology Centre AG, the technology generates highly detailed 3D avatars that track player movements throughout all 104 matches, even when players are temporarily obscured from cameras.

The digital replicas play a central role in FIFA’s semi-automated officiating system, helping determine offside decisions and displaying visual explanations on stadium screens and global broadcasts. The technology has already influenced key moments in the tournament, including Croatia’s elimination in the Round of 32 after Josko Gvardiol’s stoppage-time equalizer against Portugal was ruled out. Sensors inside the Adidas Trionda match ball detected a slight touch by Igor Matanovic during the buildup, altering the offside line and confirming the decision.

Another controversial offside involving Colombia defender Davinson Sanchez attracted widespread attention after his digital avatar appeared with an offside line crossing his right toe, highlighting the precision of the system. AI has also corrected the first mistaken-identity booking in World Cup history by reversing a yellow card issued to the wrong player during the United States’ match against Paraguay, according to The New York Times.

The AI infrastructure supporting the tournament was unveiled by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang at CES in Las Vegas earlier this year. Beyond officiating, the technology is used for broadcasting, team analysis and tournament operations across three host nations and 16 stadiums.

The 2026 World Cup has also become the largest in the tournament’s history. FIFA reported that cumulative attendance surpassed the previous record of 3,587,538 spectators set in 1994 during Ecuador’s victory over Germany at MetLife Stadium on June 25. That same day established a new single-day attendance record of 426,834 fans. By the conclusion of the group stage, total attendance had reached 4,644,549 across 72 matches with 99.7% stadium occupancy, the highest in World Cup history. Supporters from 210 countries attended the tournament, and total attendance has since exceeded five million with two weeks remaining. FIFA projects ticket and hospitality revenue between $3 billion and $4 billion, compared with approximately $949 million generated during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

All 48 participating national teams have also been provided access to Football AI Pro, Lenovo’s generative AI analytics platform, giving every squad advanced performance analysis regardless of financial resources.

Despite the technological advances, questions remain about player privacy and ownership of biometric data. FIFA has confirmed that the digital scans are used to power semi-automated offside technology and generate realistic broadcast graphics. However, it has not clearly explained whether it retains only operational rights for officiating and broadcasts or broader rights to store, reuse, license, train AI models or commercially exploit the digital avatars after the tournament.

FIFA’s intellectual property rules grant the organization ownership of tournament-related media, licensing and intellectual property, but legal experts distinguish those rights from a player’s biometric identity. While FIFA may own the technology platform and broadcast assets, players continue to retain privacy, publicity, biometric and data-protection rights relating to their own body data.

Greg Kahn, CEO of GK Digital Ventures, said, “Sitting in these stadiums, I’m watching the most valuable dataset in sports get created in real time. Every match produces intelligence – not just about the world’s best athletes, but about the future of the game. The question of who owns that data may become one of the defining business issues in sports.”

Under FIFA’s privacy policy, individuals may request deletion of their personal data, restrict processing, object to its use or withdraw consent unless legal obligations require the information to be retained. Similar protections also exist under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which treats biometric information as protected personal data under specific circumstances.

Commercial use of player avatars remains another unresolved issue. While FIFA has confirmed the use of digital twins for officiating and broadcasting and appointed Stats Perform as its official betting data distributor, it has not stated whether realistic player avatars could be licensed for betting products, video games or AI simulations. The FIFPRO player data charter states that players should have rights to access, correct, restrict, revoke and erase their personal data, while any commercial use should involve player participation.

As digital twin technology expands into international sport, the policies established during the 2026 FIFA World Cup are expected to influence future events, including the Olympic Games and professional sports leagues worldwide. The tournament may ultimately become as significant for its approach to biometric data governance as it is for developments on the field.