Former GAA president Sean Kelly has urged the association to withhold any money it owes to HawkEye - following a clanger at Croke Park. Officials were left red-faced as they were forced to ditch the technology in Kerry's crunch All-Ireland semi-final with Dublin yesterday, after it ruled out a perfectly legitimate point for Galway in their last-four win over Derry on Saturday.
Mr Kelly, who served as president of the GAA from 2003 to 2006 and is now a Fine Gael MEP, said the latest mistake has thrown the system in doubt, reports the Irish Mirror. However he said he believed the HawkEye technology does work, as it’s proven to do so in other sports, adding: “It’s the human operators that are the problem.”
The Kerry-born MEP, who was in Croke Park yesterday to watch the Kingdom record a nail-biting one-point victory over the Dubs, said the GAA should not pay a penny for HawkEye until it’s operating properly. It currently costs the association up to €8,000 for each game that it is used at Croke Park.
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Mr Kelly said: “The GAA now need to go and speak firmly to operators of HawkEye. Payments that were on the table need to be withheld because they did not do their business. That could have cost a team an All-Ireland and it’s unfair to players and spectators.”
On Saturday fans were up in arms after a clear point from a 45 from Galway captain Shane Walsh was discounted during the Tribesmen’s semi-final win over Derry. It meant Derry went into half-time leading by a score of 0-4 to 0-3.
However, GAA officials awarded the point to Galway during the half-time break, meaning the teams came out for the second half level. Following the match social media users were calling for HawkEye technology to be dumped and the GAA to go back its traditional roots.
However, Mr Kelly says he believes that HawkEye should be kept, despite the recent errors. Speaking to the Irish Mirror yesterday he said: “I think it’s not good enough as HawkEye is well-developed and used in other sports.
“The people operating it are not doing the job properly. To give one decision that is wrong throws the whole system into doubt, and you can’t have doubt.
“HawkEye is about confidence and a right decision, one that we all accept and move on. HawkEye works if it’s operated properly. An investigation needs to happen now and those responsible held to account.”
With the GAA launching an investigation into Saturday’s incident there are now doubts about its use for the hurling final next Sunday. In a statement, the association said: “The GAA can confirm that score detection technology will not be in use for two games at Croke Park. A full review of the technology will take place in the coming week.”
Former Dublin GAA star Paddy Andrews, who witnessed the controversial score, said it calls into question the reliability of the entire system. He said: “The right thing was done, the score was given but that is the intriguing thing about it. Everyone in the stadium thought it was a score, the umpire was very definitive and HawkEye obviously contacted the referee to pull it back.
“There was obviously some kind of issue because it was clearly a point for Shane Walsh and in the end the score was given, but it does call into question the credibility of the system… completely.”
Meanwhile, leading bookmakers Paddy Power have revealed how they were hit for a six-figure sum due to the Croker clanger. The bookies say they were forced to pay out to dozens of punters who had correctly backed that the Galway and Derry game would be tied at half-time.
Other canny punters had also placed successful bets on HawkEye being called into action during the big game. A Paddy Power spokesperson said: “We didn’t see the HawkEye cock-up coming but about 40 of our customers did, as the same number of bets on the draw at half-time had to be resettled, resulting in a six-figure payout.
“A number of punters also correctly bet on HawkEye being used during the game, which was another blow to our coffers.”
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