Open Letter from USPA CEO Peter J. Rizzo
Re: Use of instant replay system for USPA affiliated eventsLive
March 31, 2014
Dear USPA Members and Clubs:
There has been recent discussion concerning the use of instant replay by USPA Umpires in USPA affiliated eventsLive. There has been almost unanimous support by the USPA, clubs and players for the concept of instant replay technology and instant replay implementation for USPA officiating; however, there has not been an agreement on the details of how or when instant replay will be used on an official basis. The USPA made a decision not to experiment with an instant replay system for the 2014 Maserati U.S. Open Polo Championship®.
It is the USPA’s position that the instant replay technology will be best utilized after the USPA Umpires, LLC, their professional consultants and USPA event participants agree that the technology has been sufficiently tested and evaluated with an official process/protocol in writing.
There are several technological and procedural details to be resolved in regards to professional umpiring, and the USPA has contracted officiating experts from the NBA and the NFL to advise the USPA Umpires, LLC; and that professional advice includes the proper implementation of an instant replay system. The USPA has been advised that proper implementation of any new concept takes time to create and evaluate before implementation. The USPA decided “why reinvent the wheel” when we can learn from and model after professional sports, obtaining advice and guidance from those specialists who implemented instant replay in their respective sports. As many of you know from watching professional sports, instant replay has changed over the years – Major League Baseball being yet another sport that has taken years to implement even a modicum level of instant replay use by officials.
I, based on a consensus of the USPA Umpires, LLC board and its executive director, made the decision not to use instant replay for the U.S. Open Polo Championship. Both the technology and official use procedure will undergo a rigorous testing period over the remainder of 2014 that will conform to USPA Rules, Rules Interpretations and USPA Tournament Conditions.
If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact me at rizzo@uspolo.org or USPA Umpires, LLC Executive Director, Charles Muldoon, at cmuldoon@uspolo.org.
Regards,
Peter J. Rizzo
CEO, United States Polo Association ®