PSA To Trial New Referee System At Canary Wharf
Classic
The Professional Squash Association (PSA) have announced that a new
one-referee system, which will still incorporate a video referee, will
be trialled at the 2016 Canary Wharf Classic, the PSA M70 tournament
which takes place in London this March, in place of the three-referee
system currently in use.
The current system relies on a central referee working in tandem with
two side referees, with decisions on Lets, No Lets and Strokes, being
made by all three where the majority decision rules, but following a
detailed feedback process over the course of the past few months which
has taken in surveyed responses from both players and promoters, the
decision has been made to trial the new system, consisting of one main
Referee who will be able to ask for support from a Video Referee if he
is unsure of a decision, to assist in eliminating errors at the very top
level.
This new approach has been developed with the primary aim of allowing
referees to have more dedicated support and control of matches while
also providing a cost effective way for promoters to appoint referees
for their tournaments. Players will retain their ability to review
decisions via the video referee but, in a new move, the central referee
himself will be able to call on the 'eye-in-the-sky' if they feel unable
to accurately make a call during crucial moments of a match.
"We are grateful for the in-depth feedback we have received from players
and promoters and look forward to trialling a new one-referee system
that looks set to increase the influence and control of the central
referee," said PSA Refereeing Director Lee Drew.
"This trial event will give us the perfect opportunity to witness the
impact of the one-ref system at the highest level as we look to improve
the decision-making and consistency of refereeing across all PSA World
Tour tournaments. We are implementing this system with the dual goal of
giving players greater protection from the eradication of errors and
improving the sport as a spectacle overall."
