The first use of the video assistant referee could've gone a bit better in football. The VAR took heavy criticism during its debut at the Confederations Cup a few weeks ago.
That hasn't seemed to deter the Ladies Gaelic Football Association though. The LGFA launched the 2017 Championship yesterday at Croke Park and Inis Mór and announced that a new 'scores assistant' would be helping referees.
TG4 are one of the official sponsors of all tiers in the Ladies Championship. This year, they will be televising games throughout the season as they have before. However, at each of these games on TV will be the new scores assistant. The designated official will have multiple camera angles to assist the referee on questionable points or wides.
LGFA President Marie Hickey spoke at the launch about the new position:
Ladies Gaelic Football is a sport that is consistently evolving. With thanks to our friends in TG4, we are able to introduce the use of video assistance for scoring situations.
This is a vitally important development as it is available at every ground and at every match that is being televised.
We are determined that, where possible, we have a level playing field for all of our players regardless of what stage of the competition they are playing in.
Furthermore, Hawkeye will now be used where the technology is available. In last year's All-Ireland final, Dublin's Carla Rowe controversially had a point disallowed by the officials. Television replays showed the ball clearly going over the bar but the point was struck off. Dublin would then go on to lose by a point to Cork - who won their 10th title in 11 years.
The technology is currently set up in Croke Park and Semple Stadium, with the new Pairc Ui Chaoimh set to have the function as well when it opens next weekend.
