New VAR offside technology backfires after farcical delay in FA Cup tie

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn
New VAR offside technology backfires after farcical delay in FA Cup tie

Bournemouth and Wolves endured a farcical situation in their FA Cup fifth round tie when the new semi-automated offside technology failed to produce a speedy decision with a complex call causing an eight-minute delay before Milos Kerkez's goal was ruled out.

Andoni Iraola's hosts were already leading 1-0 when the call was made to not award Kerkez's close-range effort before Wolves equalised in the second period through a Matheus Cunha stunner to bring the game into extra time.

But the entire tie was overshadowed by one of the longest VAR checks yet after the new technology was unable to produce a result - despite claims that the average offside decision would become 30 seconds quicker thanks to the new tech.

Kerkez thought he had headed home at the back post with an effort that appeared to brush off team-mate Dean Huijsen on route. Referee Chris Kavanagh then appeared to speak to both captains and managers to inform them that the semi-automated tech was not being used, which meant the need for a normal VAR protocol.

An initial check was made to see if the ball came off Kerkez's arm and then Huijsen's arm followed by an offside check. They had judged that the ball hit Huijsen's shoulder before again looking at offside with his foot judged offside.

The prolonged wait and eventual decision was met with expected fury from both sets of supporters, who chanted "It's not football anymore" and "This is embarrassing" in addition to several songs featuring expletives.

It was initially thought that semi-automated tech had simply failed to work but the incident had several layers which meant the standard procedure was instead required to reach the right decision.

Former England goalkeeper Rob Green, working for the BBC as a commentator, said: "You need a magnifying glass to work this out. We got to a decision in the end and whether you disagree with it or not is up for debate. It was still no better or quicker."

According to the FA's website semi-automated offsides should take 30 seconds less than average to reach a decision.

But their guidance also said: "Most offside decisions will be quicker, but VAR will still have the option to draw crosshairs as a backup to the SAOT system if required.

"This process may be necessary in ‘edge cases’ where several players block the view of the ball or other players for the system’s cameras. This may occasionally result in the length of check we have seen previously in specific scenarios with VAR checking close offsides.

"The length of certain VAR checks may also remain where decisions need to consider multiple offside checks or other offenses such as fouls or handballs in the attacking possession phase (APP)."

Striker Evanilson had put Bournemouth in front before the incident, while Alex Scott had a goal scrapped offside soon after for handball - though that decision was clearcut and made quickly. Cunha then scored a beauty in the second period to bring the fixture into an additional 30 minutes.

But the Wolves star was shown a red card in extra time for lashing out at Kerkez before the Cherries ran out 5-4 winners in the penalty shootout - just under three hours after the game had kicked off.

admin

admin

Content creator at LTD News. Passionate about delivering high-quality news and stories.

Comments

Leave a Comment

Be the first to comment on this article!
Loading...

Loading next article...

You've read all our articles!

Error loading more articles

loader