Trying to inject technology into a particularly traditional sport can be quite an uphill struggle. More often than not it is met with resistance whilst fans are always crying out for more accurate decision making particularly when things don’t go their way. A week rarely passes when a sporting official isn’t under analysis following a somewhat controversial decision being made. Whilst broadcasters and viewers at home are able to see and replay the action again and again from multiple angles and at different speeds it’s quite easy for us to see the mistake, and then in sheer frustration point the finger of blame directly at the decision maker.
Referees, umpires and other match officials will often be under scrutiny if an on the spot decision is made that ultimately turns out to be incorrect. At the end of the day we are all human and with the pace that some of these incidents occur it is so difficult to be able to give a truly precise and more importantly correct and fair judgement of every hit, kick, tackle or occurrence that occurs on a pitch or court over any length of time.
So why can’t we introduce certain video technology into the games in order to avoid future errors? There is the argument that stopping and starting a game could actually have a massive impact on a number of sports that rely on speed and pace to keep them exciting for the viewing public and the momentum of the game in question. But with the speed that instant replays take place and being able to revisit certain action within a game that especially is being televised live is almost instantaneous following an incident.
Cricket already utilises a third umpire who acts as an off-field official who is called upon on certain decisions during play and is able to study replays and other video evidence before making the final decision.
Tennis also utilises a computer system known as Hawk-Eye which is able to visually track the trajectory of the ball and therefore is able to accurately predict the path of the ball. This technology is used during matches to decide officially whether a ball is in fact in or out following a call from a line judge. It has slipped effortlessly into all the high profile matches and certainly makes those tight decisions even more exciting when you’ve made the most of some of the great Wimbledon odds for this year.