On Sunday, the Premier League will welcome the well-known Spidercam to its pitches for the first time as Manchester United take on Liverpool at Old Trafford.
Spidercam has been used in the US since 1984, offering a 360-degree viewpoint for those watching on television and suspended by four cables, one in each corner of the ground.
Sky Sports’ head of football Gary Hughes told the Daily Mail: “It will mostly come into its own at set-pieces,” before adding: “Jamie Carragher and Thierry Henry will be using it on Monday Night Football.”
But the innovation of cameras floating above a sports stadium obviously isn’t entirely without issues, some of which have been exposed in the sporting arena with sometimes comical, sometimes irritating, and sometimes dangerous consequences.
Here’s an example of the comical, as a goalkeeper comes up against the technology twice in succession. How unlikely is this?
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli might have a thing or two to say about old overhead cameras after his attempted boundary was ruled invalid having received a lift from the roving recorder.
Wow, Kohli hits Spidey and that's a dead ball! https://t.co/6eauqKS6ec #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/QCCTtq6d2Z
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) January 23, 2016
Kohli was relatively calm about the matter, quoted in DNA India saying: “It’s something which has been added for the entertainment of the people,” before adding: “Everything you do or introduce will have flaws and those need to be corrected.”Australia’s Steven Smith has had his problems with such cameras, with Cricket Australia and the Nine Network acknowledging that the batsman was unsighted by Nine Network’s Spidercam while trying to take a catch against India.College footballers might agree with Kohli and Smith after encountering the hazards of tech. These athletes are big and strong, but didn’t expect to be receiving tackles from the camera’s many wires.
So Premier League footballers beware – Eden’s no longer the only Hazard in town.
