PGMOL blasted after Solanke incident in Tottenham v Liverpool – Ex-FIFA official
Dominic Solanke was rightly denied a goal as Tottenham beat Liverpool in the EFL Cup but the fact the semi-automated offside system still hasn’t been implemented has been questioned by Keith Hackett.
History was made at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as for the first time in English domestic football the referee, Stuart Atwell, made an official announcement to the stadium to explain why the goal was disallowed.
It did little harm for Spurs, who won the semi-final first-leg tie 1-0 thanks to Lucas Bergvall’s winner just moments after he was perhaps fortunate not to be sent off.
Former FIFA referee Hackett had no qualms over the decision to deny Solanke’s goal but did question why it took so long to reach the decision and is baffled as to why the PGMOL haven’t yet implemented new technology.
Speaking exclusively to Tottenham News, Hackett said: “It was a clear offside and the correct decision.
“The shortfall was the time it took to reach what was a pretty obvious decision. The delay appears to be in the technology to produce the line to confirm the offside position of the player.
“Again I ask the question, when is the top league in the world going to have the semi-automated system in order to speed up the process?
“For me the referee announcing the decision just slows down the restart but it is a step in the right direction if we are moving towards how rugby use the big screens.”
Tottenham v Liverpool full of flashpoints
Spurs put one foot in the EFL Cup final by beating the Reds on home turf but it was a game not without controversy.
Bergvall could have been shown a second yellow card for crudely chopping down Kostas Tsimikas moments before scoring his winner.
There was little complaint about Solanke’s disallowed goal but Hackett is right to raise the question about why the implementation of the semi-automated system is taking so long.
Having that will much improve the speed of decisions and hopefully prevent supporters from waiting a silly amount of time for simple decisions to be made.
In other Tottenham news, Spurs make new transfer promise after Son Heung-min disaster.
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