Eight minutes passed from the goal being sent to VAR and the eventual decision as the FA Cup’s trialling of semi-automated offsides got off to a shocking start, in what became a farce down on the south coast.
The semi-automated offside system was not working during the fifth-round showdown at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday – with VAR forced to revert to their drawing of the lines – as both sets of fans voiced their frustration.
Both Bournemouth fans and Wolves supporters sung ‘it’s not football anymore’ and ‘this is embarrassing’ during the lengthy check, which has surpassed the previous record set in a 1-1 Premier League draw between West Ham and Aston Villa in March 2024 – five minutes 37 seconds.
The Football Association (FA) said before this weekend’s matches that semi-automated offside technology would support accurate decision-making and ‘enhance the speed and efficiency of the process’.
The FA added that ‘the expected average reduction of decision time in close offside calls with semi-automated offside technology is approximately 30 seconds’.
At one point during the mammoth check, match referee Sam Barrott went over to speak to both managers – Andoni Iraola and Vitor Pereira – with nobody clear if the goal was going to be allowed to stand or not.
The goal was eventually ruled out for offside, with Milos Kerkez’s effort deemed to have hit Dean Huijsen before going in, denying Bournemouth a second goal in the first half of their FA Cup clash against Wolves.
Paul Merson, watching the match for Sky Sports, watched it all unfold and speaking more than four minutes into the check, the football pundit said: ‘Unbelievable. Now the ref has come over and talked to both managers, all the coaches have come and all the players are around.
‘Now he hasn’t said anything yet, he’s just had a big meeting with them, talked, now he’s come away and now he’s talking to the players. Still no decision.
‘I don’t know if he was asking the coach if there was any good restaurants around there tonight or something!’
After the goal was ruled out, Merson added: ‘They have given it offside against Kerkez. He’s come into the far post as the corner comes in but when he goes up to put it in with his hip, his foot is offside.
‘But that isn’t going to be the case when the corner comes in, he’s not standing there already so I don’t know what’s happened there. I’d like to see it again but they didn’t show you that part of it.
‘It’s taken seven or eight minutes and they’ve come to the conclusion it’s offside.’
Nizaar Kinsella, a journalist for BBC Sport, added: ‘I’ve never been in a stadium where both sets of supporters fume over a VAR check.
‘This is also the longest VAR check I’ve ever seen as we went well past the five-minute mark. It could well have been the longest VAR check in English football history.
‘It seems neither set of fans were happy despite Wolves benefiting from the decision as both teams had to warm up again.’
Bournemouth ended up progressing via a penalty shootout to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals for just the third time in the club’s entire history.
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