Goal-line technology company apologizes for Huddersfield mishap

Goal-line technology company Hawk-Eye apologized to the English Football League and Huddersfield Town. Controversy reigned across the leagues in England this past weekend, and that dipped down into the Championship.

The Huddersfield Town game against Blackpool was a cagey affair. In the end, Blackpool returned home as winners, 1-0. However, Huddersfield has a bone to pick with goal-line technology in its failure to secure a result.

In the second half, the Terriers thought it secured the leveler against the Tangerines. Yuta Nakayama appeared to score on a scramble following a corner at the two-thirds mark of the game. The referee did not award the goal, despite the Huddersfield players running away in celebration.

Referees wear watches synched to a goal-line technology software to provide instant feedback. Normally, when a ball narrowly crosses the line, the referee’s watch will buzz indicating a goal. This particular goal did not count, as a signal never arrived at referee John Busby’s watch. Busby, and the assistant referees in the match also failed to see the ball cross the line.

“Hawk-Eye can confirm that the ball was obscured from the goal-line technology tracking cameras as it moved over the line,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday. “The position of the players, the goal post, and the goalkeeper impacted the cameras’ line of sight to the moving ball and as such, a decision could not be determined by the system.”

“We would like to reassure the football community that this was an exceptional edge-case occurrence,” Hawk-Eye continued. “We will continue to review standard operating procedures for such occurrence with the EFL and PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited).”

Goal-line technology steals equalizer from Huddersfield Town

The issue at hand left the English Football League unsatisfied, just like the club. “The EFL is incredibly frustrated that a technology failure at Huddersfield Town and Blackpool has overshadowed a fantastic weekend of action on the pitch,” claimed the league.

Also, Huddersfield released a statement on the issue.  “The Club welcomes a full investigation into how this occurred, as it clearly needs to be prevented from happening again for the integrity of the competition going forward,” said the team.

“However, we remain incredibly frustrated as this investigation and acknowledgement does not help us at all regarding Sunday’s result.  At a time where everyone at the Club is working tirelessly to secure points and climb the division, we have been let down badly by this system.”

The loss for the Terriers only compounds early struggles in their season.  Huddersfield is currently 23rd out of 24 total teams in the Championship table.

PHOTO: IMAGO / PA Images