The 2016 IHF Super Globe saw the first official test of the new video proof technology used to assist IHF referees and officials, which will now be evaluated to determine the possibilities for use in the future. The system was created by German company Broadcast Solutions, and includes the use of 12 cameras placed at various vantage points around the field of play, enabling a detailed overview of every match as never seen before.
Three screens broadcast the images from all cameras – two in each goal, two focused around the attack and defence at both ends, four general overview cameras, and on the final day of matches at the Super Globe, two on the substitution areas – to the table of the IHF official overseeing the match, who were assisted by Broadcast Solutions’ Sandro Glanzer at the event.
Playing Rules and Referees Commission member Ramon Gallego says the system has been very successful at the Super Globe:
“In general it’s really positive, because we used the same criteria we started with in Qatar [2015 Men’s World Championship] and Denmark [2015 Women’s World Championship] with some new possibilities and the referees involved in the video proof. The management of the system is simple – it’s not so difficult, and the possibility to use 12 cameras to see the same action from different positions to help make important decisions in the match…so in general we are happy with the experience.”
One notable use of the system was during the quarter-final between Esperance Sportive de Tunis and Paris Saint-Germain Handball, when the referees of the match used the slow-motion playback to determine the issuing of a direct red card followed by a blue card for PSG’s Mikkel Hansen. Hansen was subsequently banned for one game as decided by the IHF Disciplinary Commission in Doha represented by Mr Joel Delplanque, Gallego and Svein Olav Oie.
The next step is for the Broadcast Solutions’ technology to be reviewed after which a decision will be made as to whether to proceed with this particular technology or test an alternative option.