Goal line technology premieres in European beach handball

The ebt Finals last weekend in the Polish town of Stare Jablonki have witnessed a premiere. For the first time, goal line technology has been used during a major European beach handball tournament.

Two high-speed cameras were installed firmly under the horizontal bar of each goal, assessing whether the ball has fully crossed the line or not.

“This has been a new step to make beach handball more attractive and fair. It’s an important step to make beach handball as ready as possible for the Olympic Games,” said Ole Jorstad, chairman of the EHF Beach Handball Commission.

The system has been provided by French company ‘Vision Sport’, who has also been responsible for goal line technology at the EHF’s FINAL4 and EURO events at which goal line technology has been in use for a number of years.

And similar to indoor handball, it is only the referee who decides whether he wants to make use of the system or not.

“Referees take decisions in a split second; the fact that the goal line in beach handball is imaginary, and not actually visible on the sand, makes – sometimes – things even more difficult,” says Jorstad.

“The new technology promises to remove the slightest of any human bias. It is only the goal line referee that decides when to use the system, after calling for a time out and asking for a video review on a monitor placed just behind the technical table.

“The remarks from the system’s application during the ebt Finals at Stare Jablonki have been extremely positive, and goal line technology shall be used at the upcoming under-18 Beach EURO in Ulcinj, Montenegro,” concludes Jorstad.