AFL boss reveals major malfunction that robbed Geelong of goal in $14 million finals farce

The AFL's football operations boss has admitted publicly that a high-tech camera malfunction played a part in Geelong being denied a goal in their semi-final loss to Fremantle. The majority of the AFL world is convinced that Ollie Dempsey was robbed of a stunning goal in the Cats' 14-point loss to the Dockers that ended their season.

The on-field umpires called it a behind, and a review by the ARC (review centre) deemed there wasn't enough sufficient evidence to overturn that call. However replays appeared to show the ball touched Dempsey's boot after it touched the arm of Freo defender Matthew Johnson.

Speaking on AFL 360 on Wednesday night, AFL operations boss Greg Swann doubled down that there wasn't sufficient evidence to overturn the on-field call. But Swann also admitted that a camera that could have provided sufficient evidence malfunctioned at the wrong time.

Swann said the ARC has a super slow-mo camera at its disposal that helped overturn a David Swallow goal to a behind in last year's elimination final between Gold Coast and Freo.

"We were a little bit unlucky in that we did have a super slow-mo camera that's supposed to follow the ball," he said. "But in this instance for some reason the camera stopped on Bailey Smith (who kicked the ball in towards Dempsey). It was supposed to follow the ball which he think would have helped in making it definitive or not definitive."

Greg Swann backs ARC call due to insufficient evidence

It adds to the $14 million farce, which is the amount the AFL has reportedly spent on the ARC since its introduction seven years ago. Swann said the ARC made the correct decision on the instruction that they shouldn't interfere if there's no conclusive evidence to overturn.

Collingwood coach Craig McRae declared earlier this year that the technology being used by the ARC is "simply not up to scratch" compared to other options that exist. "I know that because I've seen technology out there that's way better than what we're using, and the AFL have seen it too," McRae said in July.

The AFL has reportedly upgraded its cameras in recent times from 40 frames per second to 200. However the AFL and McRae were reportedly shown cameras with 440 frames per second, but ultimately went with a lesser option.

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