Delays call for a reconsideration into TMO decisions
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If you love your sport, then you’ll understand just how frustrating it is when the match is constantly stopped for Television Match Official (TMO) decisions. This is an instant replay of something that was just shot live, in order to make an informed decision (often to check a goal) through analysis. The organisers of the 2015 Rugby World Cup are hoping to reduce the time taken for TMO decisions to be made.
In England’s win over Fiji, an astonishing 10 minutes and eight seconds were spent waiting for a TMO decision. According to John Jeffrey, the World Rugby match officials’ selection committee chairman, “28% of stoppage time in the opening match was taken up by the TMO process”. Michael Lynagh, World Cup winner of 1991, also commented on the issue, stating that “it’s important to get decisions right on these big occasions, but let’s work out how we can do that quickly, concisely and correctly”.
Many sportsmen and officials are eager for this to put this into place, “without compromising on accuracy”. With high tech equipment, enabling us to view multiple-angle replays alongside a zoom function, this may be difficult to do, but would certainly be worth it in order to prevent a lot of time being wasted during games.