The Final Four of the Polish Cup that was held this past January 23-24 at the “Lucniczka” sports hall in Bydgoszcz was probably the first Volleyball competition ever where the so-called "Hawk-Eye" tracking system was implemented and successfully tested.
The Polish Volleyball League - in cooperation with host broadcaster Polsat - decided to introduce specifically for this competition an IT system that the players can eventually refer to in order to double check the decisions of the referees. Four special cameras were installed on the sidelines of the court – plus one additional camera placed on the net – with a commission consisting of two additional referees being responsible to discipline any eventual controversy.
All teams had the chance to appeal to the “Hawk-Eye” system only once per set; however, if the players were successful in reversing the decision of the referees, they enjoyed one more opportunity per set to turn to this innovative IT functionality.
In the semifinals the outcome was amazing: 7 appeals were addressed to the ad-hoc commission and 7 times it turned out that the referees were wrong! One of the decisions was crucial since the players of Zaksa KEDZIERZYN-KOZLE had initially lost a set 24-26 to JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel S.A. but successfully appealed to the “Hawk-Eye” to resume back to the court with a tie at 25.
“I am more than happy with this system. We avoided all controversies. Now nobody will have the chance to say that his loss was unfair” says Krzysztof Stelmach, a former international Volleyball star and now head coach of KEDZIERZYN-KOZLE.
“If I were in charge of tackling with this item, I would introduce this system for all the matches” added the Italian mentor of JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel S.A., Roberto Santilli, who is normally pretty used to have some tough and inflamed discussions with the referees. In Bydgoszcz he was not given any chance to discuss...
All players and coaches who had the chance to test out this system – which resembles to the tracking tools that are commonly used in tennis, cricket and other sports – agreed upon saying that this is definitely the best way to avoid any quarrels and controversies on the court.
Source: CEV
