The GAA has stood down its Hawk-Eye score detection system for this afternoon’s All-Ireland quarter-finals at Croke Park. The existence of a flaw became evident in Saturday’s match when Monaghan’s Michael Bannigan had a kick referred to Hawk-Eye.
It looked on replay as if it had gone wide but the stadium screen flashed the message ‘Hawk-Eye data unavailable’. In the end there was no major issue in that Monaghan defeated Armagh on penalties but it was an embarrassment for the GAA.
In a statement on Sunday lunchtime, the association said that the system was being stood down for effectively precautionary reasons.
“During the Armagh v Monaghan game yesterday the Hawkeye score detection system returned a ‘data unavailable’ message. The GAA requested an explanation from Hawkeye who concluded that the message was a result of operator error.
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“The GAA is happy that the system review confirmed the on-field decision by the referee taken at the time. However, the GAA has decided to stand down the use of the system today to allow Hawkeye to undertake a more thorough review in the coming week.”
This is the second time within a year that Hawk-Eye has had to be stood down. On last year’s All-Ireland semi-finals weekend, the system had to be suspended in the Galway-Derry match on the Saturday after a Shane Walsh 45 had been challenged and ruled out. The score was added at half-time.
Association director of games administration Feargal McGill was present that day in Croke Park and spoke to match referee Brendan Cawley from Kildare. Awarding scores is entirely the call of a referee and Cawley restored the missing point.
He was entirely within his rights to do so both because the rules give that exclusive power to the referee but also because the match officials charged with the initial determination of scores, umpires, had originally flagged the point before being incorrectly overruled.
Hawk-Eye operates on the basis of four cameras at either end of the ground, which capture and track the movement of the ball. The graphic representation on the big screen and television is simply a means of communicating the outcome.
In its 10 years of deployment, the score detection system has proved a success with a very low error rate. As one GAA official pointed out, though, the technology has to be perceived as ‘infallible’ if players, team officials and spectators are to have confidence in it.
