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Changes

Hawk-Eye to be made available at Ladies All-Ireland football finals this year

Referees will also be able to use video footage to determine a score during televised championship games.

HAWK-EYE WILL be available for use at this year’s Ladies All-Ireland football finals, as part of new changes in technology that will introduced for the rest of the championship.

The absence of Hawk-Eye caused controversy at last year’s senior All-Ireland, when a point from Dublin’s Carla Rowe was ruled wide.

The video technology was unavailable on the day and Dublin went on to lose to Cork by one point.

As well as being in use for the All-Ireland finals day on 24 September, Hawk-Eye will also be used at other venues where it is available including Semple Stadium in Thurles, and the new stadium in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, should games be staged there.

The Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) is also introducing video footage at televised games for the rest of the championship, which the referee can use if required for scoring incidents.

A score assistant will sit in the TG4 production vans, and will be able to communicate with the referee if there is confusion over a score.

This official will have the benefit of reviewing the score from all available television angles to help to determine whether or not a score has taken place.

Speaking at the launch of the 2017 TG4 Ladies All-Ireland Football Championships, LGFA president Marie Hickey said that this is an initiative which the LGFA has been working on since November, and have trialed it during the National League.

“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.

“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 trialed 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.”

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