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Lyall Gorman
Lyall Gorman

Bleiberg trial the sound of the future

Friday, 13 January 2012 10:50 AM
 

Lyall Gorman

The Fox Sports experiment to place a live radio microphone on Gold Coast United coach Miron Bleiberg during the game against Wellington Phoenix at Skilled Park is another innovation for the Hyundai A-League. And it won’t be the last.

The microphone will give TV viewers unprecedented access to the coach and his decision-making about tactics, substitutions and his instructions to players. It should be a fascinating insight.

This is billed as a world first for football, but we’re not using what’s happening in other football markets as a benchmark. We are primarily concerned with what’s happening here in Australia. That’s why we relaxed the use of replays on stadium video screens this season.

For the first time in the Hyundai A-League, fans in the stadium can see the same replays available to TV viewers at home.

Some of these incidents involve decisions by referees that are considered to be controversial, but these are the hot topics that fans debate on the terraces, so why shouldn’t we show them the respect of providing access to replays?

The innovation has been well received by fans and has the added benefit of showing how the referees and assistant referees make the correct decisions in the overwhelming majority of cases.

In making this change, we are bringing football into line with the other mainstream professional sports in Australia that make extensive use of stadium video screen replays.

The release this season of the first official Hyundai A-League app is other innovation that enhances the live experience of fans. The traditional match program is now a relic because fans want to know the starting line up and match officials when they arrive at the stadium and want match statistics on the run.

Our motivation is to grow attendances across the A-League, with these innovations a way to improve the live experience and promote the game.
However, football is the only mainstream professional sport in Australia that doesn’t allow for live microphones to be placed on match officials.

FIFA won’t allow this and has its own reasons for the prohibition, but the fact remains that this edict puts football at a disadvantage in the competitive market for TV viewership. It remains a topic of discussion between FFA and our broadcast partner Fox Sports.

As it stands, referees and assistants are wired for sound in order to communicate with each other, but the signal is a closed, encoded loop.

Earlier this year, Hyundai A-League referee Strebre Delovski was part of a test when audio was recorded during a Newcastle Jets v Perth Glory match at Ausgrid Stadium.

A brief sample was broadcast on the following Tuesday’s Fox Sports FC program and took the viewers up close and personal with the action. The 45 second grab of Strebre talking to players about why a free kick was awarded underlined just how much a live microphone on a referee would enhance the broadcast.

Let’s see how the experiment pans out with Miron. I commend him on his willingness to help the Hyundai A-League explore these innovations and open our game to a broader range of sports viewers.

Fox Sports also should be congratulated on gearing up for these opportunities and constantly working to improve the scope and diversity of their broadcasts.

The Hyundai A-League is living in a world where digital convergence is happening all around us. Will we embrace these changes and help take our growing competition to more Australians every year – whether they come to the stadium, watch on TV or consume the content on a myriad of digital platforms; as you are doing right now.

 
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Comments (16)
 
Please... No video. Please.... Just review the games afterwards and book people who dived or tried to cheat. That will then stop them trying to cheat in further matches.
rob  |  
21 Jan 2012 04:36 PM
 
 
I would like to see only two changes: A video refree for controversial decisions that could decide the outcome of a match (remember Aus vs. Itali at the world cup) and yes, please stop the music a few minutes before the start of the game.
Andre  |  
18 Jan 2012 11:20 PM
 
 
Keep pushing the boundaries Lyall, nice to see. T20 is high teching with umpires wearing sunglasses with built in cameras this week. T20 should be acknowledged as a real threat to the HAL because they are getting awesome ground attendances. The kind of people we are targeting to get our games. What FIFA thinks....doesn't apply to our sporting market. They need to be more dynamic. They are used to selling to the sold and that creates a sluggish apathy we cannot afford here
Brett  |  
18 Jan 2012 01:08 PM
 
 
Be better if this club got shifted to Western Sydney rather than have a microphone on the coach.
Charlie (Bumper)  |  
18 Jan 2012 10:41 AM
 
 
The game would be better if the reserve referee was able to look at video footage and overrule the referee on a decision that he has made when it is very conversional. Or the referee could himself call for that to be looked at before he made a decision on a free kick, yellow card or even a red card.
Robert Harris  |  
17 Jan 2012 02:14 PM
 
 
Glad to see replays of fouls at the ground, more often than not they help to ease tension in the crowd rather than create it. The initial idea of censoring replays was ill thought as the immediate reaction by the crowd is, “it was an incorrect decision that’s why they are not showing it”. Love the good feel music at the grounds but it needs to stop 5 minutes prior to the game to let the supporters create the atmosphere. Also love the music at the end of matches after the crowd starts to leave. But make sure that it is not switched on when the crowd is engaged and creating an atmosphere. As for miked-up coaches, don’t like the concept. I prefer to try and read the game and determine what the coach and players are trying to do. As for miked-up umpires and refs, I absolutely loathe the AFL umpires and their non stop inane comments permeating the broad cast. Again , prefer to think for myself and hear a good commentators comments. Regarding miking Bleiberg, I think a lot more atmosphere could be created by photoshoping a crowd from a Victory game and adding it in for Gold Coast matches.
James of Mordialloc  |  
16 Jan 2012 09:18 PM
 
 
Agree 100% re cutting the music. Let the fans be the noise and colour of the league before a match not some overpumped racket from the sound system.
Philip  |  
16 Jan 2012 11:01 AM
 
 
This can only work if the wired-up coach has the option of dis-/re-connecting it AT HIS OWN DISCRETION. Otherwise it is simply an added pressure during the game that he can do without. Without that, it's only a matter of time before he gives away playing secrets, or finds himself in trouble with the language police. Those coaches who don't want a bar of it should not be penalised in any way by the media.
Geoff  |  
16 Jan 2012 10:01 AM
 
 
Spot on Jayden. Please FFA get rid of the so-called music before and during games.
JW  |  
15 Jan 2012 09:21 PM
 
 
Lyall, showing the crowd controversial replays obviously doesn't apply at AAMI park. True they do show more than they used to, but if the crowd are already upset (booing etc) there is obviously some snap decision not to show it to the fans. I find this more frustrating than the controversial calls themselves! Please sort it out! Would also just like to take the chance to say as well, really glad you guys are listening to the fans and coming up with innovations (big wednesday etc.) Something I know most fans what looked at for next year is no music before games/after goals so we can build atmosphere. The chants of fans is the only music needed in a football ground.
jayden  |  
15 Jan 2012 05:34 PM
 
 
Well done Lyall and FFA. Really good work this season and keep at it. Don't be bullied by FIFA. They have a one-size-fits-all policy in rules but we have to find some points of difference in the Australian market and if that means doing things just a bit different to what is the FIFA policy then so be it. The fans will be with you.
Stevo  |  
15 Jan 2012 02:03 PM
 
 
Personally I feel like referees should be miked up, it's fantastic for the fans - yet it has to be reasonable within the code. NFL does it very well for their code, yet every contested decision would be a bit tedious in our game. Personally I would love it if referees were miked up and you could hear it at home. I rarely watch A-League games at home except for replays when they happen to be airing - constantly at the stadium or at work during away games. There's a disadvantage to someone in every choice, but I think the benefit really stacks up. FIFA or not we should do it anyway, as they are such a basket case of an organisation they ideally are to be ignored.
Campbell Sinclair  |  
14 Jan 2012 11:45 PM
 
 
Anything that helps bring football up to date with other codes' reffing is a good idea. I must admit that I keenly attend live games but if the quality of the reffing system (not the people - the whole system) remains obscure and prone to too many errors I lose incentive to watch. There will always be errors, but striving for the fairest decisions possible must be the aim. The justification that it will never be perfect is just lazy and complacent. Don't understand the reluctance of FIFA.
Andy  |  
14 Jan 2012 03:55 PM
 
 
This would be awesome, it'll add to the spectacle - for followers on the tele anyway, not so much the the supporters at the game, unless you buy a earpiece and listen in.
Ben from Sydney  |  
14 Jan 2012 01:48 PM
 
 
To say that a referee has made an incorrect or bad call is bases on personal opinion. To show a replay of what a coach or commentator decide is a bad call is also personal opinion. Even if you stand beside or behind a referee you may not see exactly what they see. If a referee is not in the best position to gather all the information to base their deciscion on then it is still not a bad call, but bad positioning. referees base their decisions on what they see. If they don't see the infringment corectly then their decision is based on that, an ill informed decision. All the cameras and comments in the world will not solve anything only a referee in the best position to gather the most information to make the best decision possible.
David John Hourigan  |  
14 Jan 2012 07:50 AM
 
 
The only problem with showing replays of incorrect calls is that the referee may then feel obliged to even it up. But this should be me fascinating to watch.
Eli Blue  |  
13 Jan 2012 11:37 AM