Instant replay will assist officials in reviewing disputed goals and crease violations. All video feeds in the arena and on television will be available to the officials when reviewing the play.
OFFICIALS TO USE INSTANT REPLAY
Video replay to be used in review of goal and crease calls
11/25/2008
The National Lacrosse League has announced the addition of instant replay to assist game officials in reviewing certain types of calls during games. The addition of instant replay use by officials, which begins with the upcoming 2009 season, is a first for the league.Instant replay use by officials will be limited to review of goals and crease violations only. A team's head coach will have the opportunity to initiate an instant replay review by challenging a call made on the floor. Each head coach will be permitted to do so twice per game, once during each half of the contest. If a challenge is unsuccessful, the team requesting the challenge will be charged with a timeout. The head coach will request the challenge by throwing a yellow flag onto the playing surface. During the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and throughout an overtime period, only the game officials can initiate an instant replay review.
"Our game moves very fast, and we wanted to give our game officials every available resource in determining calls in these situations", said NLL Commissioner Jim Jennings. "The other major professional sports leagues have benefited from the use of instant replay, and we look forward to the same effect on our game."
Game officials will review plays on a video monitor positioned in the penalty box area, using in-arena and television video feeds to determine if a call will be upheld or overturned.
"We researched a lot of past games to determine how instant replay could be used in an effective manner", said Steve Govett, President & General Manager of the Colorado Mammoth, who also chairs the league's Competition Committee. "We found that allowing for one challenge per half for each team is indicative of the number of calls that we felt warranted the review process. We think that it's going to benefit the quality and overall accuracy of our games without impacting the speed and flow of the game."
The instant replay system will be in place for the beginning of the upcoming season on January 3rd.
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