Down the line: Disputes inevitable if technology remains inaccessible

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Not happy: Fabio Fognini.

    This week at Indian Wells, we witnessed yet another Fabio Fognini outburst on court and it wasn’t pretty. F-bombs were dropped, tantrums were thrown, but still, none of that could overshadow one fact – that it’s been a very poor couple of days from umpire Mohamed El Jennati.

    The veteran Moroccan umpire made a terrible mistake the day before when he didn’t see Denis Istomin raise his hand to challenge a Radek Stepanek ball that was clearly out and he denied the Uzbek his right to dispute the call using Hawk-Eye.

    Istomin was understandably livid and called for the supervisor, who had no option but to side with the umpire, since he didn’t see the incident and it was simply a matter of one person’s word against the other.

    The following day, El Jennati was on the receiving end of an expletive-laden tirade from Fognini, who was demanding a point which the umpire insisted it had to be replayed.

    The point in question saw Fognini land a backhand drive volley smack on the baseline but it was called out. The Italian challenged the call which showed his ball was in. His opponent Ryan Harrison had his racquet on the ball but replays showed that there was no way the American could have returned the ball properly.

    Instead of Fognini getting the point that would have given him a 15-40 lead, El Jennati said it should be replayed.

    In typical Fognini fashion, the reaction was over the top and his language continued to worsen when the supervisor was called to intervene.

    Again the supervisor hadn’t seen the incident and chose to side with El Jennati.

    Both incidents got a lot of reaction on Twitter, including one from former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson, who said it was the perfect example of why supervisors should be allowed to watch video replay in order to make a fair judgment.

    Officiating has always involved judgment calls but the introduction of Hawk-Eye a few years ago has considerably added the number of judgment calls umpires are forced to make within a split second.

    It’s natural, though undesirable, that they make mistakes but if players are allowed to call in a supervisor to interfere, then shouldn’t that supervisor have the necessary tools to make the right call instead of simply siding with the umpire every time?

    Granted it can delay play, could give room for players to abuse the privilege, and might require more personnel on site, but just like anything new introduced to sport, if it’s well thought out and has strict rules for its use, video replay can definitely help supervisors make the right call when an umpire has clearly made the wrong one.

    Recommended