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Time Out is a podcast focused on current issues in sport leadership, performance, and health with a wide range of experts and industry leaders. This podcast is offered by the School of Sport Sciences in West Virginia University’s College of Applied Human Sciences.
NEW MINI-Series: World Cup 2026 – Expert Perspectives on the Global Game”
In this series, Dr. Gonzalo Bravo, Director of the Global Sports and Performance Center in the WVU School of Sport Sciences, talks with leading voices from across the global game exploring the inner workings, emerging challenges, and broader impact of the FIFA World Cup 2026. Please note, these interviews were recorded two months prior to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Gonzalo Bravo: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast of the Global Sport and Performance Center at West Virginia University. My name is Gonzalo Bravo.
Gonzalo Bravo: I am a professor of sport management in the School of Sport Science, and the director of the Global Sport and Performance Center at West Virginia University.
Gonzalo Bravo: Today, we continue our podcast series in anticipation of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, titled World Cup 2026, Expert Perspectives on the Global Game.
Gonzalo Bravo: As we approach the 23rd editions of this historic tournament, fans from around the world are preparing for what promises to be a truly unprecedented event.
Gonzalo Bravo: The competitions will kick off on June 11th, with the opening match scheduled to take place at the iconic Stadio Steca in Mexico City.
Gonzalo Bravo: This edition of the FIFA World Cup represents a major shift in format as the tournament expands from 32 to 48 teams.
Gonzalo Bravo: Organized into 12 groups, increasing the numbers of matches to 104.
Gonzalo Bravo: While the expansions to include more national team reflects the growing inclusivity and global reach of international soccer, it has also sparked criticism.
Gonzalo Bravo: Some observers have raised concerns about a potential decline in competitive balance. Others, however, view the expanded format as a unique opportunity to deepen fan engagements and further strengthen the sport's global footprint.
Gonzalo Bravo: This is particularly relevant for this North American editions, where the majority of matches will be played in the United States, which offer an embodiment that many sport marketers describe as a golden opportunity for soccer to build a more enduring connection with the American fanbase.
Gonzalo Bravo: In today's conversations, we will explore how technological advances are shaping the FIFA World Cup. We will also examine how the principles of fur play and sportmanships remain highly relevant in the context of this upcoming tournament.
Gonzalo Bravo: Our guest today is Juan Jose Checha Vidal, as he is known among friends and colleagues.
Gonzalo Bravo: Che-Che attended Boston University on an athletic scholarship where he played college soccer from 1981 to 1983, and earned a degree in mechanical engineering and master's in biomechanics and technology applied to sport.
Gonzalo Bravo: As a player, he represented Boston University at the highest level of college competition.
Gonzalo Bravo: Internationally, he competed in numerous tournaments, including representing Venezuela in the 1979 Copa America, and serving as co-captains of the Venezuelan Olympic team at the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympic Games.
Gonzalo Bravo: His outstanding performance earned him recognitions as the Venezuelan Soccer Player of the Year in 1979, the highest individual honor awarded to a soccer player in that country.
Gonzalo Bravo: And, at the college level, a nomination for the Herman Award in 1983, given annually to the top college soccer player in the United States.
Gonzalo Bravo: Beyond his playing career, Chece assumed several influential leadership roles, most notable at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where he served as Vice President of Technology, and led the development of telecommunications, computing, and information systems for the tournament.
Gonzalo Bravo: At just 32, the youngest BP on the USA 94 executive team, Che-Che personally envisioned it, funded, and led the deployment of the tournament's complete digital ecosystems, the first ever built on a client-server architecture at the World Cup.
Gonzalo Bravo: The mission-critical applications developed under his leadership proved so robust that they were transferred to FIFA and adopted as the operational foundations for the 1998 FIFA World Cup France and several subsequent editions.
Gonzalo Bravo: Among those systems was a real-time digital information portal, the proof of concept that led him to propose and launch, in November 1994, FIFA.com, the first official website ever created by an international sport federation.
Gonzalo Bravo: Today, FIFA.com is one of the most visible sports websites on the planet, and its origins trace directly to the visions Cheche Vidal first articulated in the United States.
Gonzalo Bravo: Cheese Vidal is widely recognized as a pioneer in the digital transformations of soccer, helping help introduce technological innovations that reshape how global sporting events are managed and experienced.
Gonzalo Bravo: More recently, he has continued to innovate by leveraging technology to educate and promote a culture of fair play through the platform Dribbble.
Gonzalo Bravo: Initiated and aligned with his soccer visions of fostering fur competitions and ethics.
Gonzalo Bravo: and sports. Above all, Cheese Vidal is not only passionate about soccer, technology, and innovations, but also deeply committed to the values of her play and sportmanship, both on and off the field.
Gonzalo Bravo: With nearly 5 decades of experience in the intersections of sport and technology, he brings a remarkable depth and breadth of expertise to today's conversations. Good morning, Chece. Welcome to this podcast.
Cheche Vidal: Good morning, Gonzalo. It's a pleasure.
Cheche Vidal: Talking to you and to your listeners through this podcast at West Virginia University, it's a pleasure.
Gonzalo Bravo: Thank you. It's a real pleasure for us to have you today. Thank you for joining us and for sharing your insights on innovations and technology in the incoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the enduring importance of her plate in the game. Let's begin by looking back before we look ahead.
Gonzalo Bravo: Your serve as Vice President of Technology during the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Could you walk us through your role at that time? What kind of technologies were introduced in the World Cup at that time, and how do you see those early innovations have changed over time?
Cheche Vidal: Well, you mentioned a bit in that introduction, which, by the way, thank you very much. In 19…
Cheche Vidal: in the… this is, when I was hired, actually, it was the fourth employee. I was given the 007 number as the World Cup employee. And, at that time, it was 1989, and, we started working in 1990. At that time, there was a transition going on.
Cheche Vidal: the computer world that we were… Italian 90, which actually went in representation of USA 1994, was actually using mainframe computers, and so they had a very good system at the time.
Cheche Vidal: But he was staged on a very costly system, but served by a sponsor of that World Cup was Oliveti.
Cheche Vidal: We changed… we shifted completely from the mainframe, taking advantage from what I was growing at the time, which was the…
Cheche Vidal: what was called the client-server architecture. You know, we went from centralized monolithic processing to, decentralized computing. And so.
Cheche Vidal: we devised a complete new way to even go through sponsors. The first sponsors that came to us was in a hardware, but, integration company, EDS. So they brought the team, to assemble all the platforms.
Cheche Vidal: And it… all the solutions were actually developed from zero for client-server.
Cheche Vidal: And that was obviously the beginning of the internet. So we,
Cheche Vidal: tested the, the first ever, forms of, of, internet as we…
Cheche Vidal: you know, call it today, and those times was actually the World Wide Web, which, by the way, was born in 1993, and by that year, we actually had the first prototype of a website for the World Cup. So, we did, mission-critical applications, and then
Cheche Vidal: the first ever demonstration on a World Cup of the World Wide Web, and as you said in the introduction, I took that idea further after the World Cup with FIFA. So, it was incredibly revolutionary for the times.
Cheche Vidal: So much that I spent the next 10 years explaining, you know, how sports had to use the internet to start what I actually describe as the digital transformation
Cheche Vidal: Sports, in that sense was actually, content only.
Cheche Vidal: The digitalization of the population or the community actually came after with the social networks, and that's actually a stage we're still on.
Cheche Vidal: Although people are talking about AI, but we can talk about that later. So it's… it was a really technologically advanced World Cup for the times.
Cheche Vidal: And it could just be defined as the beginning of the Teuto transformation of soccer and sports, because that was the first ever World Cup that handled that.
Cheche Vidal: Targeting, obviously, the fans and the whole world.
Gonzalo Bravo: That's a fascinating look back at how digital technologies started to be implemented in the World Cup more than 30 years ago. It really sets the stage for where we are today. So, let's look forward to the futures of the games and the World Cup.
Gonzalo Bravo: Do you see the 2026 World Cup as a turning point where technology truly democratized access to global sport, or is it there is a risk that it could unintentionally widen existing inequalities among fans and stakeholders?
Cheche Vidal: Well, that's a very good question. I was one of the experts behind the bid of the 2026 World Cup to convince FIFA to bring it here. I put out the vision on technology, although FIFA has now its own
Cheche Vidal: Technology Department, which, by the way, was created from our…
Cheche Vidal: recommendation to them with the, all the technology we gave them as part of the legacy from 1994. So, what I see happening is literally more
Cheche Vidal: Bringing the… the whole action of the game into people's hands, into people's,
Cheche Vidal: devices. I mean, they're gonna be leaving the World Cup at any… at any level, and in many ways. It's not just gonna be a screen-like, it's gonna be also the revolution of data. You're gonna see a lot of people arguing about how to read the game, how to…
Cheche Vidal: you know, understand the game with the help of AI, and so there's going to be much more interaction, much more engagement.
Cheche Vidal: And that is on top of already what social networks also are giving, which, by the way, people do not talk too much about it, and it's the last stage of the digital transformation, because the first digital stage was the transformation of the content around sports.
Cheche Vidal: But what's happening now with digital social networks is actually the digitalization of the
Cheche Vidal: playing ecosystem, which people don't understand, is actually larger than the business of professional sports. You know, in terms of economy, the whole world sports, we're talking about 20% professional sports, well, 80%
Cheche Vidal: It's actually with an ecosystem of development and recreational sports. And that is going to be digitalized, as we're talking about, and it's going to become a whole different business.
Gonzalo Bravo: You raise an important point about access and equity, especially as technology becomes more embedded in sport. Now, let's zoom a bit and look on how some of these innovations are influencing what happens on the field.
Gonzalo Bravo: There's been a lot of discussions around tools like the semi-automated off-site technology, often referred to as SAOT, and Advanced Referee Support Systems.
Gonzalo Bravo: Reports suggest these technologies already used in top European leagues will see further upgrades. Could you explain how this advanced referee system works?
Gonzalo Bravo: And what improvements we might expect to see during this tournament.
Cheche Vidal: Yep, that's interesting, because this is a crossover into fairness and technology.
Cheche Vidal: Very few people know that I was… one of my inventions was, in 1997, was the smart ball, was the ball with the chip, because I was seeing already the need to start digitizing the game, as far as digitizing the content.
Cheche Vidal: And at that time, the first introduction of the use at the time was computer vision for this kind of automated off-site technology that you see today, which, by the way, is a combination of that marble with…
Cheche Vidal: data technology of reading movement in players, etc, and to present renderings that are actually more fan-amicable and engaging about what's happening on the field. Having said that.
Cheche Vidal: the use, the primary use, is actually to help referees read the game properly, so the game could be as fair as possible. Now.
Cheche Vidal: An incredible thing, in 1997, when I was actually, devising the marble, I was telling people how this technology was able… was going to be able to substitute, if we do so, the referee.
Cheche Vidal: However, FIFA has been very smart about how to apply this technology, and what they're doing is, they're bringing these technologies to help enhance the refereeing, to make it as fair as possible, and to make it as it should be, human.
Cheche Vidal: driven, activities. So, in this case, for this specific technology, well, you're just gonna see
Cheche Vidal: more, you know, aided refereeing on the field, but even more important, more engagement at the level of the fan via TV, because the show of the game is going to be enhanced, and then the data discussions are going to be increased, so it's going to be a fascinating
Cheche Vidal: Addition, to the dimension of technology and fairness in sports.
Gonzalo Bravo: Those are great insights into how officiating technology continues to evolve.
Gonzalo Bravo: Staying with innovations, artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly central across most industries, and sport is not the exceptions, right? In what ways do you expect AI to be used during the 2026 World Cup?
Gonzalo Bravo: Could you share some examples of how it might impact on facilitated fan engagements or team performance?
Cheche Vidal: Yeah, I mean, The AI is so broad already.
Cheche Vidal: And, you know, we're literally leaving the age. It's very similar what we've seen with AI today, what we saw in 1990 with the birth of the internet. I mean, we were just seeing the birth of it.
Cheche Vidal: And now we can see it in every direction. So AI is right at that stage, where it's just…
Cheche Vidal: beginning to be applied in… in many directions. So the first direction is going to be… gonna be for aiding the coaching of athletes, by obviously compiling the incredible amounts of data that you can do today, not only on your athletes, but also on the opposite teams.
Cheche Vidal: and literally do a lot of data processing on the games that are gonna make it even more precise, much more dispute, and I think we're gonna be… probably, we're gonna… the level of the game is gonna be enhanced by teams that you couldn't even expect, because they're gonna have…
Cheche Vidal: the best assistance in terms of data reading that you have ever seen before. So, small teams are going to become capable with this kind of information. That is at the first level. Then the second level is actually going to be
Cheche Vidal: At the fan, engagement, level, that you're going to have devices on every single fan
Cheche Vidal: reading data that couldn't be before, asking… there's going to be interaction there. So, it's going to be a much more engaged World Cup than ever. And then you have more games, so this is going to be a very interesting…
Cheche Vidal: a spectacle from the angle of a World Cup that is actually reaching the whole world.
Cheche Vidal: And so AI is gonna enhance the spectacle. But then, there was more things that… I mean, the things that are coming on AI applied to
Cheche Vidal: biotechnology in athletics, you know, I mean, we're even talking about gene adopting on today's, world, so it's, I think the world
Cheche Vidal: is gonna see a lot of changes on sports. However, if we can keep it as we're trying to keep it, which is make
Cheche Vidal: sports as humans possible, about the search of human excellence, AI should actually be a great addition.
Gonzalo Bravo: It's incredible to see how AI is shaping both the fan experience and team performance.
Gonzalo Bravo: But beyond technology, there are also core values that define the game. So let's shift gears slightly, right?
Gonzalo Bravo: and talk about fair play and sportmanships, right? These are fundamental principles of a sport, and they are ideals that you have long embraced.
Gonzalo Bravo: In such high-stakes and highly competitive environment like the World Cup.
Gonzalo Bravo: How can these ideals be maintained?
Gonzalo Bravo: And do you think technology helps reinforce or potentially challenge those values?
Cheche Vidal: Actually, that's related to the question on the technology used for refereeing before. As I said, the emphasis of technology
Cheche Vidal: is to measure. I mean, the definition of competition is a human association to measure, classify, and compare performances. Technology is used to help measure and to help classify. Comparisons are made by humans. So…
Cheche Vidal: The fact that we are applying more and more technology to measure better and to classify performance better, then
Cheche Vidal: brings…
Cheche Vidal: this concept of fairness into the place, which, by the way, is as all the sports. You can take away the physical side of sports, and you can still have sports like you have in chess, you know, but then you can take the
Cheche Vidal: Mental side of sports, and you can have, you know, sports like many sports are, but you cannot take the ethical side.
Cheche Vidal: If you can… if you take the ethical side, you take the agreements away, and you cannot actually bring exports. Actually, the only…
Cheche Vidal: experience we have of sports going out of society is because we lost that ethical
Cheche Vidal: direction in the beginning of Christianity, and sports disappear. And so, it's very important that the stage we're in with AI, with all these technologies, and how societies are changing.
Cheche Vidal: To keep the ethical aspect of sports on the table, and making sure that we all understand that without this ethical.
Cheche Vidal: excellence that sports pursue, we could lose not only sports, but society. So, it's really, really important that we focus sports always in that it's a three-dimensional excellence, primarily, which is the physical, the mental, and the ethical. And so, with all this technology, the ethical side of it is going to be enhanced, and
Cheche Vidal: Challenge, so we really need to pay attention.
Gonzalo Bravo: Well, connecting with this concept of fair play and sport and chips, and before we finish our conversation today, I would love to hear more about your most recent project, the platform Dribbble.
Gonzalo Bravo: What are you trying to communicate to sport fans? Are you planning to include any content related to the World Cup? Let us know about what Dribbble is, and what is your vision for this.
Cheche Vidal: Well, Dribly is, as you said, my latest platform that I'm launching, and the whole idea behind,
Cheche Vidal: in Dribly. It's to complete…
Cheche Vidal: the process I was saying before, what we have is an emphasis on professional sports and the use of technology. So when I started doing dribbly, I promised myself to do for grassroots sports what I did for FIFA, meaning
Cheche Vidal: Bringing the best tools they can to measure and classify performance so competitions can be fair, and that's why it says fair competition is the only way
Cheche Vidal: for fair… for fair play, can be fair and well-managed at everywhere. But the most important thing is to bring that other aspect of social networks
Cheche Vidal: into sports is a complete digitalization, not only of content, but of community, meaning transforming all the ecosystem of sports into what it is, which is a native social network.
Cheche Vidal: But make it digital, so you can actually bring the huge economy that you have today on digital advertising. I mean, the largest…
Cheche Vidal: advertising agency in Earth today, or Facebook, are there other social networks. So, Dribly is trying to bring that economy into sports so we can battle with formulas like, you know.
Cheche Vidal: Pay to play, try to subsidize it, so we can have, you know, enhanced
Cheche Vidal: Participation, and reach participation through the digital sponsorship. And finally, to actually grow on the fair competition aspect of the sport, so we can have more and more fair play coming from athletes.
Gonzalo Bravo: That's fantastic.
Gonzalo Bravo: Well…
Gonzalo Bravo: We have come to the end of our conversations with our guest, Juan Jose Chechevidal, a trailblazer in soccer's digital evolutions and a dedicated champion for integrity, fair play, and sportmanship in sport. Thank you, Cheche, for sharing your insights and experiences with us. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
Gonzalo Bravo: In our next episode, we will be joined by John Terry, currently Vice President of Events at the U.S. Soccer Federation. John will offer his perspective on what's going on behind the scenes
Gonzalo Bravo: in planning and staging international matches. We're looking forward to exploring the challenges of event operations in international soccer.
Gonzalo Bravo: Thank you for listening. We hope you all join us for our next conversation.