FIFA President Gianni Infantino oversees one of the world’s largest sporting enterprises, where football intersects with technology, commerce and geopolitics. The Asian nation was absent from the pitch, but its technology, factories and brands helped power football’s biggest spectacle NEWS ANALYSIS | IAN KATUSIIME | The irony could hardly be greater. China, a country that has struggled for decades to become a football powerhouse, did not feature at the expanded 48-team FIFA World Cup in North America.
China has only played at the 2002 World Cup in its history. Yet as billions tuned in, they watched a tournament supported by Chinese technology, branded by Chinese sponsors and supplied through Chinese manufacturing. China’s industrial and technological dominance underscored a different kind of victory in the age of global supply chains.
China’s fingerprints were perhaps most visible in the tournament’s technology ecosystem. Lenovo, the Chinese technology giant and FIFA’s official technology partner, supplied AI-enabled devices, servers and digital infrastructure that supported tournament operations across the expanded competition. Lenovo deployed over 17,000 devices and 350 engineers across the 16 host stadiums in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Instead of just running ads, they built the tournament’s back-end IT framework and the Football AI Pro platform used by coaches for advanced match analysis. “What Chinese companies export today is no longer a single product,” Qiao Jian, chief strategy officer and chief marketing officer of Lenovo was quoted by China Daily. “Increasingly, they are exporting integrated technology capabilities and becoming part of the infrastructure that powers global events.” Qiao described the World Cup as the world’s largest AI testing ground.
Lenovo showcased hybrid AI systems that generate 3-dimensional digital twins of players and real-time offside alerts. Hisense became part of football’s officiating infrastructure. As FIFA’s Official VAR Review TV Provider, the Chinese electronics giant supplied its MiniLED displays for the Video Operation Room (VAR) at the International Broadcast Centre in Dallas, Texas where video assistant referees reviewed contentious incidents with the clarity and colour accuracy demanded by elite-level officiating.
Match officials had the visual precision needed to review goals, offsides, penalty decisions an…
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