The FIFA Club World Cup has undergone a revamp since it was last competed in December 2023 in Saudi Arabia. The number of participating clubs has increased fourfold to 32, the frequency of the competition has gone from annual to quadrennial and the champion's prize money – previously 5m – has gone up by a whopping 35m. It's not just the numbers that have changed in the tournament. FIFA is also looking to introduce new technology, including artificial intelligence to help the referees, and it is getting stricter on goalkeepers who waste time while holding the ball. Here's a look at the three big changes to be implemented at the monthlong tournament, which will get under way on Saturday in the United States: Small cameras, protruding from the referees' ears, will capture the live action unfolding in front of them.

FIFA is using new artificial intelligence to help referees call offsides in this year's World Cup. The system is called semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) and uses 12 cameras attached to the roof of the stadium to track the ball and each player's movements. SAOT uses artificial intelligence to recognize and track players and the ball, calculating their positions 50 times per second. A sensor is attached to the official Qatar 2022 World Cup ball, called Al Rihla -- Arabic for "the journey" -- allowing SAOT to compare the exact moment it was kicked with the position of the team's last defender and the opposing team's striker. This level of precision is key for very tight situations in which it's difficult for referees to quickly call offsides.

The most concise way to understand the offside rule is in the words of the Scott Fujita blog: an offside is the result of an attacking player getting closer to the opponent's goal line than both the ball and the last defender. It's a rule that sounds objective, but it has led to a lot of questionable calls, partly because it can only be judged from an individual perspective. Twelve motion-tracking cameras mounted under the roof of the stadium use machine learning to track 29 points in players' bodies. In other words, FIFA is mo-capping players, just without the funny gray suits. The system will alert referees when a player is offside.

Technology may amplify rather than eliminate the flaws of human judgment.