No sport can work itself into a muddle quite like football. Until the introduction of semi-automated offsides, we had officials in booths drawing lines on screens to determine the relative positions of one player’s toenail and another’s heel.
Even when the VAR operators delivered their verdict, it rarely appeared conclusive.
On the other hand, we have officials in the thick of the action told they must not signal blatant offsides — and that has led to a bad injury to Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi.
Lawmakers IFAB usually make changes to the framework of the game at their annual meeting in spring. Yet there is provision to hold extraordinary general meetings to make swifter alterations. Now a player has suffered such serious damage, it is high time they acted.
This one was particularly baffling. As Anthony Elanga took off, Elliot Anderson delayed his pass a split second — and that was all Conor Coady needed.
The experienced Leicester defender stepped forward when Anderson sent the ball in Elanga’s direction. There was clear daylight between Elanga and Coady — cut and dried.
Except it wasn’t. Because when there is a possible goalscoring opportunity, referees’ assistants are advised to keep their flags lowered until the move is complete. That way, the theory goes, they have more time to consider tight calls and at any rate, VAR checks every decision.
All well and good — until you have an incident like this. After Elanga was allowed to continue, Forest substitute Awoniyi tore forward. With the match level at 2-2, a goal at that stage would have taken Forest back into the top five and on track for a place in next season’s Champions League.
Elanga slid it across and Awoniyi and Leicester forward Facundo Buonanotte flung themselves towards it. Awoniyi got the final touch, the ball trickled wide and both players collided with the post. The game was stopped for several minutes while they were treated.
A little more than 24 hours later, Awoniyi was taken to hospital for urgent surgery on an abdominal injury. Luckily, the Nigerian is recovering well — but he would never have been in this position had the officials been able to use common sense.
No blame should be attached to Sian Massey-Ellis, who was running the line. Her every instinct would have been to raise her flag. Blame the lawmakers, not those who have to implement the rules.
We understand why this tweak was made. Imagine a Premier League manager’s fury if his team were denied the chance to score because an official had wrongly called offside.
But if supporters can spot an obvious offside, so can the officials. When the call is genuinely tight, they will still keep their flags down. Let’s trust them to do their jobs — and avoid more needless injuries like these.