Hawk-Eye apologises to Huddersfield and EFL for failure to award goal

By Jamie Gardner, PA Chief Sports Reporter

Goal-line technology provider Hawk-Eye has apologised to Huddersfield and the English Football League after the failure to award a goal to the Yorkshire side on Sunday.

The Terriers’ Yuta Nakayama was denied an equaliser in the Sky Bet Championship match against Blackpool after the technology failed to send a signal to the watch of referee John Busby to alert him to the ball crossing the line.

The official and his assistants also failed to spot the ball had gone in.

Hawk-Eye Statement on Goal Line Technology Incident: Huddersfield Town vs. Blackpool - Sunday September 4th, 2022. pic.twitter.com/Qj2YTKOBfc

— Hawk-Eye Innovations (@Hawkeye_view) September 6, 2022

The EFL issued a statement on Monday stating it was “incredibly frustrated” that the goal had not been awarded, and on Tuesday Hawk-Eye provided an explanation for the failure of the technology.

“Hawk-Eye can confirm that the ball was obscured from the goal-line technology tracking cameras as it moved over the line,” the company’s statement read.

“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 acknowledge the @EFL's statement regarding Sunday’s @SkyBetChamp game against Blackpool.#htafc 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.

Statement ⤵

— Huddersfield Town (@htafc) September 5, 2022

Hawk-Eye said seven cameras are installed at each end of the pitch to track the ball, and a signal is sent to the match officials when two or more of the cameras can see it. It said the system had been deployed at more than 15,000 matches around the world since its first use in 2012.

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

“Hawk-Eye has spoken to both the EFL and Huddersfield Town FC and would like to apologise unreservedly to both parties.”