The Premier League has released a statement clarifying the reason behind the six-minute delay in confirming Nikola Milenkovic’s goal against West Ham on Sunday.
According to the statement, “issues with VAR communications” and technical difficulties with the newly-introduced semi-automated offside technology were to blame for the lengthy hold-up.
The incident occurred when Milenkovic scored to put Forest 2-0 up against the Hammers at the London Stadium, with the game ultimately finishing 2-1 in Forest‘s favour. However, the goal was subject to a lengthy VAR review to determine whether Milenkovic was offside or if Nicolas Dominguez, who was in an offside position, had interfered with play.
The officials eventually decided that Dominguez had not impacted the play, and Milenkovic was deemed to be in an onside position, allowing the goal to stand. However, the delay left fans frustrated, and Jamie Carragher was among those expressing their discontent.
The Premier League’s statement explained that the semi-automated offside technology was “not available” to the VAR officials during the incident, and that there were also issues with communication between the VAR team and the on-field officials.
The statement read: “The referee’s call of goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with Milenkovic in an onside position and Domínguez in an offside position, but deemed not to be impacting on play.”
Carragher unleashed his frustration at the prolonged delay, stating it epitomised the fans’ growing discontent with VAR. He remarked: “For me, it’s a goal. This is why people get wound up. You can hear the reaction in the ground.”
Supporters took to social media to express their outrage, with one commenting: “They were desperate to disallow that, what a farce. You could spot after 30 seconds Milenkovic was onside.”
Another user chimed in, saying: “VAR spending 5 to 10 minutes trying to find a problem with Milenkovic’s goal. Took 10 seconds to see there was no issue. This is meant to be the peak of football, just woeful.”
A third fan echoed the sentiment, adding: “Ridiculous how long that VAR check actually took, it was clear Milenkovic who scored it wasn’t in an offside position so should have been given and moved on. Mad how long it takes.”
