Muirhead red light sparks demand for video replays
Penalty controversy costs GB dear against Sweden Defeat leaves semi-final hopes in the balance
Great Britain’s women curlers were caught up in a bizarre controversy that led to calls for the introduction of video replays yesterday, when they were penalised for a rare foul that cost them their match against Sweden even though television footage suggested the decision may have been incorrect. Skip Eve Muirhead had taken the groupstage match to an extra end with the score all square at 6-6 and one stone remaining per team.
As she delivered Britain’s final stone, the lights on the handle flashed red to indicate a foul had been committed.
The violation meant the stone was removed from play to leave unbeaten Sweden a free shot at winning the match, which they took to claim an 8-6 victory.
The stone’s red lights are programmed to flash if it is released after the hog line – the equivalent of a no-ball in cricket – or if the stone is touched twice. However, replays appeared to show that neither had obviously occurred, with Muirhead releasing the stone in advance of the line.
Rugby and tennis have embraced video technology in recent years, while football’s FA Cup is trialling the Video Assistant Referee this season. No such system exists in curling beyond the automated lights that measure the stone’s release.
“I guess when you see the replays and it looks like all the ones before it, it is hard to take,” said Muirhead.
“But it does come down I guess to inches and millimetres. It is the first stone I think I have hogged in my life and I guess when it comes at a time like that it is horrible. But it just makes it worse when you see it and it doesn’t look like it is. We did get the stone tested and the stone is fine, so there is nothing we can do.”
Asked whether her hand had crossed the line, she replied: “I don’t know. If I did, I’d be out there telling the officials. It’s gutting it finished that way.”
Glenn Howard, Team GB curling coach, said he was equally unsure what offence had been committed. “I’ve only seen one replay and it looks like Eve has let go of the rock prior to the hog line and the light went off,” he said.
“Then all they do is question the handle on the rock and test whether the lights are working properly. The lights were working properly, so therefore it becomes a hog-line violation.
“The only thing I can think of is Eve has let go of the rock prior to the hog line, it crossed the line and then she happens to just touch it