FIVB President Happy With Performance of Hawk-Eye Challenge System

The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) President Dr. Ary S. Graça has been satisfied with the Hawk-Eye Challenge System used during the World Grand Prix Finals this week.

“It’s very good. It’s going to be very useful,” Dr. Graca said on Sunday, the final day of the event.

“We also need to develop the system and we need to include block-touch also, it’s very important.”

Dr. Graca has stated that refining the Challenge System is an ongoing process as there are different systems in use in various countries.

“There are different technologies in Poland, Italy and Brazil, and now everybody is developing new technology and it will be cheaper in the future,” he said.

“For the men’s World Championships in Poland, we’ll use the technology of Poland, while for the Women’s Championships in Italy, we will use technology of Italy. We will try to test different technology and listen to the players and coaches.”

The Hawk-Eye system was first used in tennis many years ago and it has proven popular with fans, players and coaches at the volleyball tournament.

China coach Lang Ping has been happy with the system but believes it does need some fine tuning.

“I think the system is great. If we can add touching and lines, that will be perfect,” said Lang.

“Sometimes the referee and linesman can’t see everything because it happens so fast.”

Russia coach Nataliya Goncharova is also one of the supporters of the Challenge System.

“At times it can be a bit confusing for the players and referees,” she said.

“But overall it is better to have the Challenge System.”

FIVB Referee Delegate Hassan Mohamed is hoping more equipment can be incorporated into the equation to both expand the boundaries and improve accuracy.

“The system is very good. The first time we used it was just for in/out calls, but we added more elements here and it is working well,” he said.

“I would like to see cameras positioned at the attack lines. It would be best if we could have cameras at all lines because we could make everything clear.”