Softball: Black Sox angry that cheating claims were taken seriously

By JULIE ASH

Softball New Zealand chief executive Hadyn Smith is disappointed that the sport's international body felt it had to act on Canadian speculation that the Black Sox had cheated in the final of the world championships.

The International Softball Federation yesterday dismissed a complaint made by Canada that the Black Sox had cheated, saying there was no evidence to back their claims.

Canada alleged that the New Zealand team used a video camera to relay their catcher's signals to Black Sox coach Don Tricker and then on to the batter, which helped them win the final 9-5.

Although pleased with the ruling, Smith said he was disappointed at the way the whole matter had been allowed to develop.

"We are disappointed that the matter has been taken seriously at all," Smith said. "In the original story in a Canadian newspaper the players admit they were merely speculating.

"At the tournament itself representatives of the International Softball Federation acted on speculation by the Canadian team. We will be asking the ISF to have a look at the processes for handling such situations in the future."

After reviewing all the information including reports from the chief and assistant umpires and members of the ISF technical commission who were in Christchurch, ISF president Don Porter said there was no evidence to show New Zealand had used illegal communication to gain an advantage during the final.

"We have not found any evidence of use of prohibited communication equipment either during the gold medal game or any other game during this tournament," Porter said. "The world championships in Christchurch were an outstanding success and we do not wish to have any unsubstantiated statements that would take away from the fine athletic accomplishment of both the New Zealand team as well as the 14 other countries that were represented."

Porter said many teams in major competitions use video equipment, which is a coaching tool and is allowed by the ISF rules.

"However the ISF rules out using any communication or electronic equipment to detect signals and relay them to the batters, coaches or others in order to gain an unfair advantage over their opposition."