7:00am Friday 18th April 2008
By Phil Chard
PIRATES chief Matt Ford believes speedway must bite the financial bullet and introduce multi-angle video cameras to assist referees with their decision making as soon as possible.
The Wimborne Road supremo was talking after Mick Posselwhite, one of the sport's top referees, was widely castigated for wrongly excluding Mads Korneliussen from a race at Poole.
Korneliussen, guesting for Castle Cover Pirates, hurtled out of control into the safety air fence after being inadvertently hit by Coventry's Chris Harris during Wednesday's meeting.
To the astonishment of most Poole fans who had a clear view of the incident, Posselwhite excluded Korneliussen rather than Harris, who later admitted his mistake had caused the crash.
Ford said: "These days, when it's becoming very easy to take legal action against your fellow competitors in certain sports, as we have seen in football and rugby recently, it's only a matter of time before health and safety regulations demand we have to have video evidence at speedway.
"Looking at it from a completely different perspective than just a ref simply making a wrong decision that can affect a speedway result, I believe there will be a legal requirement for video evidence in the foreseeable future.
"I think it will be out of the hands of refs shortly. It's just a matter of time before it is a legal issue.
"Not just in speedway, but in all sports, especially when I'm hearing that in local football clubs can sue other clubs over injuries to players.
"Let's make this absolutely clear, Chris Harris is a wonderful speedway rider, and I can categorically state he would never mean to put anyone's safety at risk.
"However, occasionally human error creeps in and we all make a few unintentional mistakes."
Ford added: "I just think it was one of those questionable incidents that happen during a course of a season.
"There will be questionable incidents. It will happen. Only last week we felt one or two decisions went against us (at Lakeside).
"I'm always told these things even themselves out, but I think video proof in any sport is perhaps the way forward.
"Whether or not we are financially set up for that at this time as a sport, I'm not sure. But, unquestionably, it's only a matter of time before it comes.
"In fact, it's going to come. And if it's going to come in five or 10 years, it may as well come tomorrow.
"I understand there will be a monetary issue here. It's not going to be cheap for clubs to put in these facilities.
"But just as the Elite League has done with air fences, which justified their cause by saving Mads from a much more serious injury, the financial aspect must not stop speedway going forward."
Ford has also backed calls from Poole and Coventry team managers Neil Middleditch and Peter Oakes for two, or even three, referees to officiate at speedway meetings.
At the moment, there is only one referee.
Ford, who had put up £60,000 for the winner of the first meeting at Poole this year, said: "I did ask if for our Diamond Jubilee event we could have two refs because it was such a prestigious meeting.
"Unfortunately, my request was declined."
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