Following the conclusion of the Australian Youth Water Polo Championships (AYWPC) in Brisbane on Monday April 18, 2022, there has been misinformation and slanderous allegations made regarding the integrity of referees, table officials, coaches, Clubs and WPA.
With some of this misinformation circulating via social media, Water Polo Australia would like to clarify key points around the matter and also remind all members of WPA that they must adhere to the member protection policy that outlines acceptable codes of conduct, that extends to behaviour on social media [page 14].
To prevent further such misinformation, WPA would like to clarify some key points in relation to the matter.
- There were three games replayed due to technical errors during the AYWPC.
- Clubs are entitled to raise concerns if they believe there has been a technical error. Technical errors do not relate to decisions made by referees in the game, but to things such as errors in score cards or communication between referees and table officials.
- In all three cases, the Clubs, players and coaches of the respective teams are not at fault or accused of doing anything wrong. Attacks on their respective integrity must stop immediately.
- WPA is currently investigating allegations/complaints of misconduct in and around some of the games and this process will take some time.
WPA is acutely aware of the impact these situations have on Clubs, Players, Coaches as well as our own staff and will actively seek to avoid this type of thing happening again. However, in all three cases, the FINA conventions and rules, based on the information available, was required to be followed. To not do this, would have meant making rules up on the fly, which would have created further issues.
Taking a game back to the point of a technical error, is not uncommon and has occurred numerous times, most recently in the AWL Challenge Series, when a shot clock error caused the last part of the final quarter to be replayed. In this instance, the error was identified prior to the end of the game, had it not been and had it been raised post game the game would have been replayed from that point at a later time/date.
WPA would encourage, all involved to ensure they are setting a standard of behaviour that is consistent with our Think.Act.Play guidelines and that when they reflect on this in time, they will not regret their actions today.
