Hawk-Eye and video replays to be used in ladies championships
July 13, 2017
Hawkeye in action at Croke Park during the drawn All-Ireland SHC semi-final between Kilkenny and Waterford.
©INPHO/Tommy Dickson.
Hawk-Eye will be made available at this year's All-Ireland ladies finals as part of new technology changes introduced for the rest of the championship.
The video technology will be available for use at Croke Park for finals day on September 24th and will also be used should the games be staged at venues such as Semple Stadium in Thurles and the new stadium in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork.
The Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) will also be bringing in video footage at televised games for the rest of the championship, which can be used by the match referee should he or she require it for scoring incidents.
Last year's All-Ireland senior final caused controversy after Dublin's Carla Rowe had a point ruled wide as Cork went on to claim victory by a one-point margin.
Speaking at the launch of the 2017 TG4 Ladies All-Ireland Football Championships today, LGFA president Marie Hickey said the initiative is something that the association has been working on since last November.
"It's new assistant technology in games where it's going to be available, so for all of our televised games, they're going to have in the hub where the recording is happening, we'll have a score assistant, who'll be watching the game from that point," she said.
"If the referee requires assistance from a scoring point of view, they can replay and get that. If it's discovered that there was a score and it wasn't awarded, then contact can be made with the referee.
"We'll also have Hawk-Eye this year available as well so we have a number of technologies coming on board this year which is exciting."
"It was partly to do with that (last year's All-Ireland final) but I suppose the reason why we didn't have Hawk-Eye last year in the All-Ireland final was because we didn't feel it was a level playing field for all of the games. That's what we wanted, so this is our measure to ensure that that can happen at all games that are televised."
"We trialled it through the National League, and we're happy with the progress of it. The technology is great now and it's a brilliant step forward and it gives us the ability to have a level playing field for all our players in all the pitches that are going to be televised.
"That obviously broadens it, not just for Hawk-Eye."
Tweet
